History of TCAES
Tupou College Aotearoa Ex-Students Society (TCAES) started in 1977 by a group of migrant ex-students from Tonga, their primary purpose was for fellowship and to raise funds for any development project at Tupou College, Toloa (TCT) in Tonga. Tupou College Toloa (TCT) is the oldest secondary school in Tonga (157 years old) and is an all-boys boarding school that the Wesleyan Missionaries established. The school is funded largely from donations from ex-students in Tonga and overseas.
Members of the Tupou College Ex-Students in New Zealand have increased dramatically since the 1980s, and at the 2019 annual school anniversary celebration the TCAES governing committee identified that there is a need to help its local members with their well-being and to support them to thrive in Aotearoa as members of society. The committee decided to shift its focus from primarily raising funds for their Tongan counterpart to raising funds for development projects in Aotearoa that can help local members with their well-being and personal growth through assisted programmes.
The long-time vision of the Aotearoa ex-students to establish a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) to help make it easier to acquire funds and to improve the work of the society was realised on the 24th of March 2020 - the TCAES association was registered with Internal Affairs as a registered Charitable Society. The core purpose of the society is to assist the well-being of its members here in Aotearoa through health and education initiatives and to nurture and develop leadership, religious, moral instruction, educational pathways, sporting skills, health, cultural and musical talents to promote career opportunities and service for the community. The belief is that if the local TCAES members thrive and prosper in New Zealand, they would be in a better position to extend their help to their school in Tonga.
Our community currently have 3,000+ known ex-student members all over Aotearoa excluding their families. Every year that we celebrate the school anniversary, we have new members joining, some of these members are new migrants from Tonga and other countries.
The long-term goal of the society is to establish an academy in New Zealand that can help in the well-being of its members/community by up-skilling them for better opportunities, whether they are new migrants to Aotearoa or local members seeking personal growth.
Our Mission
To promote the wellbeing and culture of Tupou College Aotearoa Ex Students Inc. in New Zealand.
To develop and enhance leadership, religious moral instruction, educational pathways, sporting skills, health, cultural and musical talents.
To promote career opportunities and service for the community.
To support Tupou College, build and strengthen our relationship with Tonga and New Zealand.
Objectives
To offer support opportunities for Tupou College Aotearoa Ex Students Inc.
To ensure a duty of care to all members of Tupou College Aotearoa Ex Students Inc.
To promote the activities of the society within the local community & wider society, including Tonga and New Zealand in the name of Tupou College Aotearoa Ex Students Inc.
To provide all its services in a way that is fair to the members and good will of Tupou College Aotearoa Ex Students Inc.
To manage the finances, resources, assets and property/ies of Tupou College Aotearoa Ex Students Inc.