By Bill Morris of Frank Film
“If it wasn’t for this place, I’d probably be dead.” That's how much the Phillipstown Community Hub means to Veg, one of its volunteers. But Veg and hundreds of others came very close to losing their tūrangawaewae. The Wellington-based Ministry of Education wants the Christchurch suburban site sold.
For the last decade, this old collection of classrooms has grown into the most unlikely gathering of outsider communities. With an axe hanging over the much-loved Hub, Frank Film was invited to record its last days. What they instead found was a community that wasn’t going to give up easily.
Phillipstown, in Christchurch, is one of New Zealand's most deprived suburbs. Its primary school had served the area for 137 years, but after the Canterbury earthquakes, the government of the day wanted to close it. Residents organised and fought back, but the people lost. Their school was merged with neighbouring Woolston school.
But the people of Phillipstown didn’t give up. They petitioned to keep the abandoned school site open as a place for local groups to use. The Ministry of Education relented and even supported the initiative. A peppercorn rental of $1 a year was set and the hub quickly grew into a hive of activity. Since then, dozens of community groups have found a space to exist in the former classrooms– everything from English classes for new migrants to art classes, ukelele groups, Muslim prayer groups and pregnancy support services.
The Hub’s influence spread far beyond Phillipstown as groups from across the city started making use of it. The transitional nature of the place, and the huge range of groups that use it, are, says Christchurch city councillor Jake McClelland, what makes it special. “It's quite extraordinary. You couldn't have planned it.”
Hub employee Ella Harris says “people can really come and just be themselves here, rather than having to pay to be in high-end spaces. We've created a real community, thanks to the mixture of our tenants.”
The Hub nourishes both minds and bodies– a large community vegetable garden has been established on the site. Michael Reynold, who runs it, says it has become a valued resource for people struggling with the high cost of living. “Anyone can come in. We just have a rule that says, take what you need for tonight.” The size of the garden, he says, has doubled in the last 12 months. “It is because of a need, but also the connection and the mental health benefits that come with people coming to spend time in the garden.”
In October 2025, the Ministry Education announced that it was planning to offload the school site, which is valued at around $6 million, and the tenants were all served notice. It was a devastating blow for some of the long-term tenants, for whom the Hub is far more than just a place to gather – it’s become part of their identity. “It’s sad for everyone in the Hub,” says art student Sue. “I actually think it's disgusting. They’re going to destroy it all.”
For Sudi Dargipour, chair of the Phillipstown Community Centre Charitable Trust, the Hub’s continued existence is vital. She tells Frank Film “All of these groups,” she says, “are born because of the need of the community and shaped because of the need. You cannot cut this living organism. This is like your liver, you cannot replace it.”
Dargipour, along with a group of employees and volunteers, formed a deputation to the city council. In an emotionally-charged meeting, Hub tenants delivered heartfelt appeals.
People like Veg, who found community here when he was at his lowest ebb. “It's my safe space,” he told the council. “I'm 14 years clean from heroin. If the place wasn't there, I don't know where I'd be. I'd be dead or in jail.”
“Our communities are generally so broken,” Reynold told the councilors. “So many people experience life in a very isolated way, and the Hub is the antidote to that.”
The council listened, and agreed to unlock $3 million of funding to buy a portion of the site, and to provide support for ongoing management costs. While there are many in the Hub community who feel aggrieved at the way the Ministry has handled the affair, and while the decision has come too late for some of the tenants who had already found premises elsewhere, there's a sense of relief that the Hub will, for now, remain alive.
