Click here to VOTE! for Te Waka Aroha South Brighton
Te Waka Aroha is a vibrant South Brighton group with a lot of talent, energy and creative connections – but no permanent home.
The group has its eye on the vacated church and hall at the roundabout on Bridge Street and, with a little help from SmartLift with repairs, has the opportunity to lease it for 20 years, or buy part or full ownership of it through paying for repairs. Most damage is to the church building, which needs a wall replaced and repairs to its foundations.
After the earthquakes most of the shops in South Brighton were demolished, including their local cafe. These have not been replaced, so the church site provides an opportunity to bring back some of what was lost and add even more to their community.
Members of the group have been operating in the community since the earthquakes and have now moved on from disaster support to bringing cultural and social life back into the community.
Te Waka Aroha South Brighton has set up a learning exchange to facilitate swapping of experience freely within the community.
Workshops on pre- and post-colonial local history; holistic health and longevity; cupcake decorating; acupressure; origami; computing; a knee clinic; and much more are all sourced from community experience. Free roller discos for local kids and neighbourhood BBQs also went a long way to providing a fun and positive environment for the local community.
The vision for the refurbished church and hall is to create a multi-use community hub comprising a daytime café that can also host pop-up restaurants in the evenings; a hall that is shared with the local school and other local groups; a community information centre; a health and well-being centre; and a performance venue for local musicians and comedy open mike nights.
Te Waka Aroha South Brighton is working hard to replace what South Brighton has lost.
Vote now for Te Waka Aroha South Brighton