KICKSTARTING KAITAKE'S NEW COMMUNITY HUB

The Kaitake community celebrated the opening of their newly refurbished community sports hub on April 7th, a project spearheaded by the Kaitake Community Sports Hub Inc (KSCH).

“The sun shone, and the place was packed. It was a great way to kickstart the sports hub and really affirming of what we set out to do – provide a facility to enhance social connection in the community and opportunities for kids to be active,” said Garry Carnachan, KCSH chairperson.

The Corbett Park Rugby Clubrooms had been in a serious state of disrepair. Losing them meant losing the base for the local sports teams, forcing everyone to travel into town for sports practices and matches.

The local sports clubs, including Rugby, Football, Cricket, Netball and the Oakura Junior Sports Club, decided to form a new entity as the best way to save the building and strengthen ties within the whole community.

"Having so many clubs involved makes the venture more sustainable and engages the wider community," said Garry. 

Toi Foundation's $170K funding helped bring the building up to the current earthquake and fire codes. It also funded interior and kitchen work and the construction of a patio overlooking the beach.

The KCSH envisions their hub as a significant contributor to the social fabric of the district. There are over 600 members across the five sports clubs. However, the hub is a facility that welcomes and serves the entire community.

"We want to see the lights on early and going out late, and community organisations across the spectrum being able to make use of the building. Hopefully everybody in this community will have an engagement with that building and be impacted by it in some way."