Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa (Tū Manawa) is an activation fund that supports tamariki (5-11yrs) and rangatahi (12-18yrs), particularly those that are less active, to access quality play, active recreation, or sport opportunities of their choice in their community or school and kura.

A wide range of organisations that provide physical activity opportunities for tamariki and rangatahi are encouraged to apply, particularly those supporting the following target groups that are known to be less active, such as:

Young women and girls (5-18yrs)

Tamariki and rangatahi with disabilities (5-18yrs and including those in schools up to the age of 21)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Kaupapa Maori

Those living in communities that are not exposed to opportunities for tamariki or rangatahi to be active.

We also welcome applications supporting less active participants outside of these focussed groups.

Sport Northland is proud to be managing Tū Manawa on behalf of Sport NZ in our region. Tū Manawa builds on the previous funding support from the KiwiSport fund, which successfully ran across Aotearoa for over a decade. Tū Manawa is aiming to transform approaches to engaging tamariki and rangatahi in healthy and active lifestyles for life through tākaro/play, ngā mahi a te rēhia/active recreation and hākinakina/sport. Sport NZ released this fund with a particular focus on groups who are less active, including girls and young women, disabled people and those living in our priority communities. Therefore, we welcome applications that will provide quality experiences for these groups.

Sport Northland launched Tū Manawa in July 2020. Between July 2020 and June 2025, we have distributed around $4.4m of funding to 455 kaupapa across Te Tai Tokerau.

There is a $25,000 cap, meaning an organisation can apply for up to $25,000 per organisation, per financial year (June 2025 - July 2026).

All applications will be assessed by an external panel that will include community members and Sport Northland staff. ​​​​​​​

We welcome applications from the following organisation types (please note, funded entities must have legal status):

• Hapū, Iwi, Marae, Māori organisations
• Incorporated Societies
• Charitable Trusts
• Regional or Local Council
• For-profit businesses/commercial organisations and social enterprises​​​​​​​

Education settings:

• Primary/Intermediate schools/Kura
• Secondary schools/Wharekura
• Tertiary Education/Whare Wānanga

Where an organisation or group wishes to apply but has no legal status, we recommend you consider partnering with a legal entity.

The fund does not cover:

• Costs that are not directly required for the provision of the activity that you are applying for (such as salaries or wages for existing staff, administrative overheads etc)
• Costs that are already funded by other sources
• Costs of retrospective projects or activities (those that have already been completed or held)
• Costs associated with professional athletes, professional sports teams, academies, or representative teams
• Capital costs (e.g. facility development and maintenance, playgrounds)
• Medals, prizes, giveaways, spot prizes, uniforms, team apparel.

The following are not eligible to apply:

• National and regional organisations who receive Partnership Inv​​​​​​​estment from Sport NZ (Regional Sport Trusts, National Sport and Recreation organisations)
• Individuals
• Professional or semi-professional sports teams and organisations
• Government agencies and their regional branches (e.g. Ministry of Health, Oranga Tamariki)
• Early Learning Services​​​​​​​

This is an activation fund that is intended to help cover the costs that are directly associated with the delivery of your activity. These costs might also address any barriers that prevent participants accessing your activity.

Programme or project delivery costs could be:

• Koha contribution
• Delivery staff costs where these are required for the delivery (e.g. activity leader, coordinator or facilitator)
• Venue hire for project.
  
• Equipment hire/purchase (needed as part of the programme or project).
  
• Transportation to the location the project is taking place at (within Northland only)
  

We are interested in receiving applications that take innovative approaches to engaging our priority groups in quality tākaro/play, ngā mahi a te rēhia/active recreation and hākinakina auraki/sport experiences that meet their needs.

We want to ensure Tū Manawa funding does not replace curriculum delivery, or inadvertently cause confusion about the roles and responsibilities of teachers/kaiako and external providers. For that reason, when planned activities involve external providers other than school personnel and occur during class time, there is an additional step in the application process.

This involves a discussion between the school/kura and the external provider about the planned activity. The In-school/kura setting form has been created to guide this discussion.  

​​​​​​​Please complete the form and upload it to your application when applying. The link to the form is below.

It is important to be clear on what all parties are trying to achieve, and consider how the project supports building relationships, making use of local and community resources and connections and ultimately ensuring better outcomes for students and their learning.

Please note that you do not need to complete this form for projects that occur within a school/kura setting that are either before or after school, during lunchtime and breaks, or for applications that only involve school personnel.