Kaimata Playgroup

Kaimata Playgroup has been running for almost 20 years. The playgroup runs play sessions for the local community on Fridays.
 
“We are situated in the old bowling club next to Kaimata Primary School. We are close to school so that the 4-year-olds can visit school, while the parents have a coffee, and then the kids come back and have a play,” Michelle Jackson, Kaimata Playgroup President, said.
 
“The building is over 30 years old and the roof was original. We have slowly done the building up over the years to make it safer for the children. Since it was an old bowling club, the kitchen had holes in the bench where the kegs sat. We re-cladded inside and put up a new ceiling. In the process, we found water damage from leaks in the roof.”
 
A grant of $10k from Toi Foundation enabled Kaimata Playgroup to construct a new roof for the building.
 
“There are very limited options for funding for a playgroup, especially for large projects like this. As well as the grant, we put some money from coffee and cake stall fundraising towards the roofing.”
 
“We are a non profit community group. We cannot afford to keep doing major repairs, so by replacing the roof, hopefully our fundraising will go towards our tamariki's playing and learning needs, instead of maintenance.”
 
“We currently have 28 families registered, which is around 40 children who can attend. We welcome everyone, so we have families coming from Inglewood and Purangi, as well as Kaimata. Having a safe and healthy space to play is a big asset to our small community.”
 
“We have worked hard to provide a great learning space in Kaimata. Families can come along, knowing our building is a safe place for their tamariki,” Michelle said.