Recreational Services Celebrates 25 years - Random Acts of Kindness
This month Recreational Services turned 25 years old. To celebrate the incredible journey and to thank our communities for their ongoing support, each of the teams around the country took some time to pay it forward in their own unique way.
Christchurch’s pay it back to the community, nicknamed ‘Big Wednesday in The Garden’ was spent donating goods and material to community gardening groups in the east of Christchurch.
The team began the day at Avebury Park with the ‘Richmond Community Garden’ group who maintain a community vegetable garden which the group grow for personal use before donating the excess to local charities. Trish and the group gave the team a tour of their gardens including the new extension they are developing in neighbouring red zoned land. Rec Services gifted some potting mix, straw mulch, hand tools, vegetable seeds, seed raising trays and a tunnel house that were very gratefully received.
Next up was Rawhiti Domain in New Brighton where the team meet two groups, ‘Friends of Rawhiti’ and ‘New Brighton Community Garden’. New Brighton Community Garden volunteers maintain various flower beds and raised garden beds in Rawhiti Domain, supporting Christchurch’s ‘Garden City’ reputation. They received some gardening hand tools and vouchers for Bunnings. On the other side of the park, we delivered a truck load of mulch to the ‘Friends of Rawhiti’ who are trying to encourage young people to utilise eastern parks. They have a long term goal of converting a pine-forested sand dune area into a natural play area for kids complete with swings hanging from trees and tree stump forts.
On the way back to base the team delivered a hedge cutter, brooms, some wool sacks and gloves to the Aranui Community Tool Shed. The Tool Shed hires tools and equipment to members of the community for a small fee so that they can maintain their properties.
The Christchurch team have also brought some materials to donate to the community groups who have been effected by the recent Port Hills fires but we haven’t been able to hand them over yet as they are still putting out the fires and cleaning up.
It was awesome to see the pride that these groups take for their piece of paradise and the happiness that the gifts brought to them.
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Contact Ed Hadfield, Operations Manager: ed@rs.kiwi.nz