2009 National Community Award Winners

Supreme Winner:  The Friends of Motueka Hospital Trust, Nelson City/Tasman District

Above: Jack and John Inglis from The Friends of Motueka Hospital Trust (seated) with Nelson Mayor Kerry Marshall, TrustPower Acting CEO Chris O'Hara, TrustPower Chairman Bruce Harker and Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne.

The Friends of Motueka Hospital Trust was established after the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board decided to close the existing community hospital in Motueka.  The people of Motueka joined forces to fight the closure and in the process ended up fundraising and building a new hospital to meet the community’s needs.  The new 45 bed community hospital boasts state of the art equipment, an ensuite bathroom for all rooms and a therapeutic bath with its own lifting equipment.

At the TrustPower National Community Awards the Trust gave a heartfelt eight minute presentation during which they told the participants of how nearly every person in Motueka was involved in the effort to build their hospital and how they are now fundraising to extend the facility. 

For more information about The Friends of Motueka Hospital Trust, see their website here.

 

 

Runner Up: Katikati Open Air-Art Inc, Western Bay of Plenty District

 

Above: TrustPower Acting CEO Chris O'Hara with Kit Wilson and Judith Junger from Katikati Open-Air Art, Robyn Paterson and Western Bay of Plenty District Mayor Ross Paterson and TrustPower Chairman Bruce Harker.  

 

Responding to the threat of their small town being bypassed by a new highway, coupled with kiwifruit industry depression prompted a creative group of Katikati people to form Open-Air Art Incorporated in 1990. 

Since then, Katikati Open-Air Art has proven that volunteers can make dramatic and enduring changes to the national image of a small provincial town.   They have transformed Katikati from a ‘rural’ village into a vibrant tourist destination, creating a unique point of difference for Katikati and a renewed sense of community pride. 

 

Thanks to these volunteers Katikati is now universally known as the mural town of New Zealand, securing a prominent place on the list of New Zealand tourist attractions.  

 

For more information about Katikati Open-Air Art, see their website here.  

 

More photos from the 2009 TrustPower National Community Awards are below: