Ngāti Whakaue iwi members are now reaping the rewards of savvy investment decisions made on their behalf, with $33,500 worth of grants just announced to support education, sports, community, health and wellbeing initiatives.

In 2009 Ngāti Whakaue Assets Trust was given a $9.2 million Kaingaroa Forest settlement fund to invest for the collective benefit of Ngāti Whakaue.

The Trust has now successfully grown that asset base to an impressive $20.13 million, allowing them to distribute $500,000 to tribal beneficiaries in the coming financial year.

The first of those grants include sponsoring a major waka ama event in Rotorua this coming Saturday (30 March). Renowned local club Hei Matau Paddlers will host over 35 teams from across the North Island on Rotorua's lakefront who will then race around Mokoia Island.

Hei Matau Paddlers committee member Mel Rika says the $3000 Trust grant will help pay for support boats and their fuel, an ambulance on site, and to execute a traffic management plan. 'It's quite a big undertaking. We ran a similar event on a smaller scale last year and it did cost quite a bit. So to receive this funding is absolutely fantastic,” Rika says.

'The vast majority of our paddlers are Ngāti Whakaue. We're helping to encourage Maori hauora and our 120 members range in age from six through to 74 years-old. We definitely appreciate the support we've had from our Trust. It makes running this event do-able.”

Another recipient, Tatiana Macfarlane from Tiaho Healing, will use her $3000 grant to fund a two day wananga workshop teaching the benefits of traditional mirimiri massage.

'Mirimiri is a dying art. It's not just a massage, it's a holistic approach and a worthwhile kaupapa that can benefit the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of your whanau, hapu and iwi. The purpose of this wananga is to share this cultural knowledge so it is not lost.

'I'm really excited to help others discover these tools and potentially encourage them into a career as a mirimiri practitioner.” Macfarlane says the Trust's grant should allow about 15 Ngāti Whakaue members to attend the next wananga workshop free of charge.

Trust chairperson Katie Paul acknowledges she and her fellow board members have exceeded their own financial goals by making a wide range of commercial investments over the past decade. Paul says this success is due to work done 'by a great team” who assess investment opportunities to choose the right ones for Ngāti Whakaue's beneficiaries.

'It's wonderful to be able to distribute those profits back to our people and support community groups, events and initiatives that make a tangible difference to our lives.

'We are helping to build a prosperous future for our tribe. Our marae, tikanga and te reo are thriving and our focus remains on growing and protecting our success for future generations.”

Other Trust grant recipients announced this week include Rotorua Primary School's Parent Committee (to purchase IT equipment for interactive student learning), Maketu Educare (to purchase GoPros and equipment to document tamariki learning. Each group has received a grant of $3000.