Established in 1981, Wai-Ora Trust is a faith based community organisation that is dedicated to the restoration of people and the environment.
We achieve this by promoting and supporting projects which involve “Re-Creation” through our mission to G.R.O.W
Founded on Christian values we endeavor to SHOW Gods love through our care of people and the environment.
We strongly believe that “God so loved the world” can be translated to “God so loved his creation”, and therefore we believe strongly in the principle that…
“People healing the land, heals people”.
Restoration of people and the environment is at the core of Wai-Ora.
Through our social enterprise, Wai-Ora Group, we not only employ highly qualified staff, but are also able to offer opportunities to marginalised members of the community. Operating throughout the Canterbury region our award winning native nursery sells hundreds of thousands of eco-sourced native plants to individuals, organisations and government agencies each year and support the protection, restoration and enhancement of the natural environment through weed control, wetland restoration and planting projects.
Profits from our social enterprise go directly into the social programmes run under our Trust umbrella.
Read moreAt the heart of Wai-Ora is a genuine care and love for community and environment. Our many and varied programmes and services are designed to outreach to those whom would otherwise fall through the gaps. We do not seek grants or funding as we believe this would potentially limit our autonomy to simply outreach and serve those most in need. Therefore, the majority of our services and programmes are self funded, run on a minimal budget and services such as our community gardens, farm camps, orchard and community gardens utlise the healing power of creation and the whenua
We endeavor to enhance each individuals mana by offering opportunities to be involved in meaningful voluntary or paid work projects.
These could be via our community works volunteer programme, helping with community lunches, preparing kai boxes for weekly distribution or through paid employment opportunities in our social enterprise.