This report details the development and operation
of a community-based violence prevention programme (VFCP) developed and run at Te Aroha Noa Community Services (Te Aroha Noa) in the Palmerston North suburb of Highbury from 2007 to 2010.

The context of the project is described both in
terms of the theoretical approach to service delivery
adopted at Te Aroha Noa and also in terms of the
wider literature relating to community initiatives
that target family violence. Appreciative inquiry
methodologies were adopted in the research
because these had a good fit with the overall
approach of the VFCP in that they allowed diverse
voices to be heard and had a good fit with the
emergent design of the VFCP itself. The bulk of
the report addresses the development of the
initiative from 2007 through to 2010. Proximal and
distal effects from the initiative are explored and
the report also identifies distal effects from earlier initiatives developed at Te Aroha Noa to illustrate the way in which community development initiatives can generate ripple effects that continue to have impact long after the initiative itself has finished. {from the Executive Summary). More information about Te Aroha Noa Community Services is available via the website link.