Church offers hall for Kaikorai hub

Kaikorai Presbyterian Church minister John Daniel (left) and church manager Olive Lewis are looking forward to providing a hub for Kaikorai groups and activities in their church hall. Photo: Greta Yeoman

The Rev John Daniel said while the ``Kaikorai Community Centre and Hub'' was basically putting all the groups run in the hall, including exercise classes, children's programmes, and coffee, cake and chat drop-in gatherings, under one name, it also meant people could claim the space as a gathering point and develop other programmes.

Church manager Olive Lewis said people were recognising the benefits of community centres around the city as a way for people to connect.

She said with the gradual decline in people running errands on foot in their immediate neighbourhoods and everyone rushing from place to place, people were slowly beginning to realise they had lost connection with their neighbours.

The idea for the hub had been growing for several years, with the church getting more and more involved in supporting Kaikorai residents - including partially funding and supporting a youth worker at Kaikorai Valley College earlier this year, Mr Daniel said.

Parishioners just wanted to serve their community and provide support and a space for people to meet, he said.

Organisers were open to collaborating with anyone who wanted to start a programme at the centre - provided they had space available at the right time.

``It would be a good problem to have.''

They were working to establish more regular events, and had launched a free ``Food for Thought'' breakfast on the first Sunday of the month, which started on September 4, Mr Daniel said.

A survey, which will be put in letterboxes, available online and at the hub, would give residents the chance to share thoughts about what they would like to see in the community centre and other programme ideas.

- GRETA.YEOMAN @thestar.co.nz