Flourishing communities: Victory and beyond
By Carrie BriffettSocial and information hub
Far-reaching effects
Tahunanui Community Centre
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Community centres in Nelson are part of a big push to develop local wellbeing.
There's no disputing Nelson's Victory is a top community. In fact, it's official: at the inaugural New Zealander of the Year awards in February it scooped up the community award.
Any suggestion a decade ago that they would pick up such an honour would have been met with stunned disbelief by Nelson's population. Kindra Douglas, manager of Victory Village Community Health Centre, explains Victory was better known for its "high rates of drug abuse, gangs and crime".
The centre was built in 2007 and has played an important role in the transformation of Victory. It offers a low cost doctor and a range of regular free services from hearing tests and Plunket to work and income services.
Kindra says an important wellbeing service it offers is its free face-to-face counsellors. The centre has four counsellors and she says they make a real difference to people who otherwise would not be able to afford counselling.
"One of the things about Nelson is that rents are high but people here are on low incomes and that creates a lot of stress," she explains.
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The centre also offers 23 different social activities every term, according to Kindra, and they range from badminton to dance classes to a writers' group.
The centre keeps the costs as low as it can with many of the activities having just a "gold coin" cost. Kindra says a lot of people come in to use one of the services and end up becoming interested in the activities.
The centre, which Kindra explains is funded by government contracts and various community funding streams, filled a void in the community.
Prior to its creation Kindra says there was no focal point for people to come together to plan such activities. It also acts as an information and referral hub for different agencies. Now the atmosphere in Victory is "hugely more positive", she says.
A lot of people are also volunteering to help run community events such as Lark In The Park, where local people can go along for some free family-friendly activities and entertainment. Victory has a community garden and people are being taught to keep their own low-cost gardens too.
Far-reaching effects
Social wellbeing has increased and Kindra says she has noticed an increased self-esteem and self-respect among Victory's residents. "People know more about their rights and are standing up for them more," she says, citing an example where people recently protested about the introduction of pokie machines at a local pub.
Initially the centre was asking for people to support them in any campaigns but recently Kindra has noticed that people are planning their own campaigns and asking the centre for support.
But Kindra says it's not only the centre that can take credit for the improvement of Victory. She explains they have regular meetings with stakeholders around how to look after their community and this includes such people as the police, the YMCA and the school, which Kindra praises for its "open door" approach in working closely with other agencies and the families of the children themselves to improve the community.
In fact, the centre is built on the school's campus and the Community of the Year award was awarded to both centre and school, which was recognized for its positive results.
People in Victory have worked hard at raising standards in their community and Kindra says the residents were thrilled to have that recognized by the award. "It was a huge boost to the community," she says.
Tahunanui Community Centre
Victory's community centre isn't the only one in Nelson making a difference. Andrea O'Malley, playgroup supervisor and family support worker for Tahunanui's community centre explains that they have just a few paid staff at the centre with the community pulling together to keep groups and activities running.
Andrea gives the example of their playgroup, which is held twice a week, where parents pitch in with tasks such as toy cleaning, as well as using the time for a chance to socialise and get some adult conversation. She adds there is also a parent-run Russian playgroup that uses the centre.
She says her role involves creating a relationship with families and referring them to any agencies they may need to be in contact with or just providing a listening ear for anyone who needs to talk.
Trish Duthie, the centre's development coordinator, says that there are other programmes that are mainly run by community participation, such as a parents' running group where half the members look after the children while the others go running and then they switch.
The centre also offers exercise classes, an older people's walking group and a gardening group where people go around to each other's gardens as well as learning about gardening in the outdoor part of the centre. Trish explains while the centre can be a focal point for information or gathering, many of the activities are carried out outside of it.
The activities, Trish says, are about "getting people out and about and having healthier lifestyles".
For further information
http://victoryvillage.org.nz/
www.victorycommunitycentre.co.nz
http://www.zenbu.co.nz/entry/1163010-tahunanui-community-centre-inc
