For release Friday, 18 November 2011

Rolleston Community Centre Wins National Award

Selwyn District Council’s Rolleston Community/Recreation Centre won the New Zealand Recreation Association’s (NZRA) 2011 Outstanding Facility Award at Thursday night’s NZRA annual awards ceremony.

Opened in April 1999, the centre is a multi-use, multi-purpose facility for meetings, indoor sports and fitness, functions and events. It contains a sports stadium with a high ropes course suspended from the stadium roof, a stage for performances, a function lounge with fully-equipped kitchen and bar facilities, a meeting and activity room with adjacent kitchenette, and a fitness centre. Co-located with Rolleston Library and a youth park, the facility offers opportunities for joint activities and programmes.

“Selwyn District Council has been successful in turning an underused venue into a happening community hub where an impressive number and a range of activities are on offer at all times – and has done so while achieving an operating surplus in a short amount of time,” said NZRA Chief Executive Andrew Leslie. The judges felt this was “an excellent example of how good management, fantastic community engagement and creative delivery can energise a space,” Leslie added.

The NZRA Outstanding Awards were presented during NZRA’s annual conference awards dinner, which was held at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium. Recreation professionals from all around the country attended the conference, entitled “Recreation – we’ve got it covered”, which focussed on high level strategy, development, policy, and planning topics relevant to and across the range of sectors that make up the recreation industry. The key areas of this year's conference were: access, research, health, the impact of natural disasters and the future of the recreation industry.

“Recreation is essential to our physical and mental wellbeing,” said Leslie. “We are fortunate in New Zealand to have access to great outdoor parks and reserves, we have modern recreation facilities and a dedicated group of professionals who are committed to delivering innovative, safe, appropriate and entertaining recreational services.

“The awards are about thanking those people, and recognising those among them who raise the bar, develop original solutions and inspire New Zealanders to get active and healthy,” he said.

Ends…

New Zealand Recreation Association is a not for profit industry member organisation committed to promoting recreation and providing professional services to the recreation sector.

NZRA represents professionals who work with public swimming pools, parks and open spaces, recreation facilities and recreation programmes. We believe recreation is vital to the wellbeing of New Zealanders.

© Scoop Media