Te Ara Mahi
Since its inception, the focus for Te Ara Mahi has been twofold - marine training and workforce development. Funded by Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Te Ara Mahi and was successfully completed in 2025.
“To create sustainable training-to-employment opportunities and pathways for Ngāti Awa and local whānau”
Marine Training
Through Te Ara Mahi, Taihuringa partnered with with MAST Academy, Toi Ohomai and Extreme Boats to support our whānau through various marine programs and related career pathways. We also worked with other local services, businesses, agencies and schools to help to deliver apprenticeships, upskilling programs, and support for career pathways, ensuring our local working ecosystem have skilled professionals to meet current and future demands.
We are proud to share that through Te Ara Mahi we have helped 113 people to undertake short marine courses, 17 to start marine apprenticeships and 143 to participate in short courses in other areas including agriculture, construction, tourism and hospitality. To hear about the Ahei Marine course please watch the video of MAST Tutor Stephen Hutching.
Workforce Development
Through our workforce development focus, we were able to help 185 people access wrap-around support and 10 industry partners to participate in the project. We also assisted 47 people to get their driver licenses and we helped 137 of those who looking for support in the development of CVs, literacy and numeracy programs as well as further training as required. We worked with our whānau to create bespoke personal development plans and we worked on soft-skills that will help them in their future careers.
To hear about the support he received, watch this video of Charles:
However, in 2024, we concluded the Ahei Marine pre-apprenticeship program as we shift our focus from the marine industry in response to sector and environmental changes. If you would like to know more about our offerings then please email our team.
Our programs are open to all those aged older than 16. Although, we have a unique opportunity to nurture the future leaders of our community through training programs, work placements cultural connection and much more, so our focus is on rangatahi.
