[video: Upbeat pop guitar music plays. The outside of a community centre, there is a yellow sign with the text “Come and have a Cuppa!” in the foreground and a boy bouncing a basketball in the background. A cartoon street sign for Peace Ave painted in green on a baby blue wall. A woman smiling and writing at a table. A hand placing an orange sticky note on a table.]
Christine Yip: We actually all get a chance to put our ideas onto the table. That gives us the voice.
[video: School children in a maroon uniform running along a path toward the community centre. Plastic bottles of paint in a line. A school boy painting. People gather in a circle in front of the community centre. Text “Riverside, Putting community at the centre”.]
Tina Veila: You have that empowerment, of what you want to happen, and what you want to build.
[video: A green road side for “Peace Ave”. Three young boys playing basketball, one of the boys dribbling the ball, another shooting for the hoop. Thomas Rawiri sitting in front of a table of people inside the centre. Text “Thomas Rawiri, Centre Manager/Engagement Facilitator”. Thomas and others sitting at a table talking.]
Thomas Rawiri: The challenge in the past has been, the community had no sense of identity with the centre itself. So my first role here was to restablise the centre and bring in more community engagement. That’s where it came to reach out to the Community Empowerment Unit.
[video: Natia Tucker sitting in front of a plain wall. The word “Believe” is written on the wall behind her in bright colours. Text “Natia Tucker, Co-design Leader, Community Empowerment Unit”. Natia talking and writing. Ladies from the community laughing and smiling.]
Natia Tucker: Co-design is where you have the people that you are trying to serve, as part of your project group and they are designing the solutions to the issues.
[video: Manu Joyce sitting, behind her is a couch against a wall. Text “Manu Joyce, Practice Specialist, Community Empowerment Unit”. Ladies from the community talking to one another around a table. Thomas taking notes. Hand written paper notes in a pile on a table. Manu Joyce talking. Ladies from the community walking and talking together outside. Two school kids standing on a rope swing outside a community centre. A girl inside the community centre pouring paint into small paint trays.]
Manu Joyce: The community leaders came, and they challenged us in that very first meeting about sharing power and control. We made a commitment that what we would do going forward, would be informed by their voice, and that their voice would be at the very centre of everything that we did.
Manu Joyce: So we discovered three priority findings for this project, community connection, community safety, and inclusive programming.
[video: Sarah Latoa standing in the community centres kitchen talking. Text “Sarah Latoa, Community Champion”. Sarah cutting up apples in the kitchen, other people standing around a table holding children. Young school boys sitting at a table eating biscuits and waving. Kids outside the community centre getting out of a grey people mover van. More kids in the community centre, some gathered round the table, others standing in groups eating food. An apple and kiwi fruit being cut. A boy talking to a woman inside the centre.]
Sarah Latoa: I’ve lived in the area for 30 odd years. Worked here voluntarily, now getting paid it's sort of like I can support my family, the after school program, provide afternoon tea. We help them with homework, it’s just somewhere from them to come and relax before they go home.
[video: Ladies inside the community centre, sitting around a table knitting. Tina Veila sitting in front of a wall of children’s artwork. Text “Tina Veila, Community Guardian”. A mug of tea being picked up. Two women talking and nodding. A child painting.]
Tina Veila: By having this project team, I think we can make us the community connect to each other. We need to be together.
[video: Christine Yip sitting in front of a wall of art and an old piano. Text “Christine Yip, Peace Ave Resident”. Children painting. Manu Joyce talking. Thomas and two school boys outside the community centre, in the garden gardening.]
Christine Yip: I’m feeling a lot safer knowing the people. I’m seeing a lot of positives coming for this centre, and for the community.
Manu Joyce: I’m really excited to see the capability of community shine.
[video: Thomas sitting in front of women around a table. Thomas and two boys planting in the garden. Smiling at one another.]
Thomas Rawiri: We’ve seen a lot of untapped potential that’s in this community, so I’m excited to see that potential be realised and to flourish.
[video: Text: “Brought to you by The Community Empowerment Unit at”, Auckland Council logo (Auckland Council text next to a pōhutukawa flower over water) “aucklandcouncil.govt.nz” “Search: community empowerment” fade in over a white background. Music fades out.]
Duration: 2 minutes.
