More detail to picture of sport and recreation support for Counties Manukau announced

Another chapter in sport and recreation investment and support into Counties Manukau has been confirmed by Aktive - Auckland Sport & Recreation (Aktive) with Sport Auckland now responsible for the Howick area.

Dr Sarah Sandley, Chief Executive Officer, Aktive says the announcement adds to recent positive news around investment in Counties Manukau.

"This latest piece adds to the picture of support for Counties Manukau; all contributing to increased investment, reduced administration costs and greater capacity to help the communities of Counties Manukau to be more active," says Dr Sandley.

"Together with Sport Auckland, Sport Waitakere, Harbour Sport and Community Leisure Management (CLM), our goal is to make Auckland the world’s most active city. As a group, we are working together to co-create, community by community, a world-class sport system in Auckland - and we are excited that Sport Auckland has agreed to include this particular community as part of their priority focus area."

Mike Elliott, Chief Executive, Sport Auckland says the organisation is proud to extend its remit in Howick, as it is already delivering its Green Prescription Health & Wellness programme there.

"Sport Auckland looks forward to supporting Howick with Community Sport and Targeted Populations initiatives, including the popular ActivAsian programme," says Mr Elliott. "With extra staff and resources, our team is excited to engage the community and understand how we can best increase participation in sport and recreation - especially by children."

In the last three financial years, Aktive has significantly increased direct local investment in to Counties Manukau. The 2017/18 financial year investment currently includes $1.019 million through Sport New Zealand. This is an increase of $161,000 year on year, with the figure expected to be added to in the future through other financial support. Combined with reduced administration costs, the investment facilitates more community-facing roles.

"Across our Counties Manukau providers - CLM, Sport Auckland and College Sport - this means there will be at least 10.5 team members operating at grass-roots level," says Dr Sandley. "Ultimately, this means greater support for sport and recreation in the community."

CLM was recently appointed a significant partner for The Auckland Approach to Community Sport in Counties Manukau and has recruited five new community-facing team members, with further roles to be added. College Sport also has resource on the ground with a Regional Sports Director for Counties Manukau Secondary Schools.

This announcement follows news that Aktive has received a grant of $3,751,000 over three years from Foundation North; the largest investment in Aktive to date by the community trust for Auckland and Northland. Water Safety New Zealand has also increased its annual grant to Aktive by $10,000 to $190,000.

In addition, a fully independent local KiwiSport Advisory Group with an independent Chair has been recruited to make recommendations on investment applications made to the Counties Manukau KiwiSport Fund, with the results of the first round to be announced shortly.

With a comprehensive support system for sport and recreation in Counties Manukau, National and Regional Sporting Organisations should engage CLM; Howick clubs and community groups’ key contact is Sport Auckland; and the region’s secondary schools should liaise with the College Sport Regional Sports Director.

ENDS

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