Welcome to our July newsletter! We hope you all have a wonderful Matariki, with time to pause, reflect, reconnect, and spend time with your whānau, friends, and communities.

As we move into the second half of the year, we're looking ahead to the support and opportunities we'd like to offer our Collectives. To make sure we're delivering what will be most valuable, we'd love to hear directly from you.

Gift Collective continues to grow, and we're committed to providing practical, relevant support for our Collectives across Aotearoa.

We've created a short survey to better understand the types of workshops, webinars, resources, networking opportunities, and topics you'd find most helpful. Your feedback will help shape our programme for the months ahead.

The survey only takes a few minutes to complete, and we'd really appreciate your input.

As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback, please don't hesitate to get in touch. We're always happy to hear from you. 💚

This month marks seven months since I joined Gift Collective as Community Outreach Coordinator, so I thought Matariki was the perfect time to pause, reflect, and reintroduce myself to those of you I haven't yet had the chance to meet.

My name is Trish, and I joined the Gift Collective team back in November! I wrote a reflection after my first three months, and now, halfway through the year, it feels like another good opportunity to look back on what's been happening.

The first thing that stands out is just how much we've grown. Since I started, Gift Collective has continued to expand, and we're now supporting more than 170 Collectives across Aotearoa. Every week I have conversations with people doing incredible mahi in their communities, and I continue to be inspired by the passion, creativity, and generosity that exists in every corner of the country.

One of the things I love most about this role is hearing your stories. Whether it's environmental restoration, arts and culture, neighbourhood connections, youth programmes, food resilience, or community wellbeing, every Collective has a unique kaupapa, and it's a privilege to play a small part in supporting your mahi.

I'm also incredibly lucky to work alongside an amazing team at Gift Collective and The Gift Trust. For such a small team, we have an incredible breadth of knowledge, experience, and skills around the table, and everyone genuinely wants to see our Collectives succeed. I can honestly say I enjoy coming to work every day and that's something I know not everyone gets to say.

A special mention to Chloe, Katie, Cheryl, Jackson, Yvonne, and Sari, as well as our Board, for their support, encouragement, and the mahi they do behind the scenes to make Gift Collective what it is.

Matariki encourages us to look back with gratitude, celebrate the present, honour those who came before us, and think about what we want to nurture in the year ahead.

As we move into the second half of the year, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on your own Collective.

Whether that's launching a new project, welcoming new volunteers, exploring funding opportunities, or simply strengthening relationships within your community, every small step contributes to something bigger.

Thank you for everything you do to strengthen communities throughout Aotearoa. You all should be very proud of your work, it is a privilege to work alongside you, and I'm excited to see what the rest of 2026 brings.

Trish 💚
Community Outreach Coordinator