The Incubator named supreme winner at Trustpower Community Awards

Simone Anderson, director of The Incubator art hub, and her team of volunteers have taken top honours at 2017 TrustPower Community Awards. Photo/File

The Incubator has taken top honours at Tauranga's biggest annual celebration of volunteers, the Trustpower Community Awards.

Tonight voluntary groups from around the city gathered with representatives from Trustpower and Tauranga City Council for the awards.

Trustpower community relations representative Abbie Siely said The Incubator had been widening its scope and increasing its impact year on year since its inception in 2013.

"The Incubator has been working tirelessly to develop an interactive creative culture in the Bay of Plenty, contributing to positive social outcomes through the development of arts infrastructure," Miss Siely said.

"More than 150 volunteers are committed to drawing the community together through the universal language of creativity.

"They facilitate a vibrant destination for creative activity, provide accessible education and stimulating events, and grow social collaboration," she said.

Miss Siely said the group had grown to be a central force behind many of the city's creative enterprises.

"In the past 12 months, The Incubator has hosted more than 40 events that have involved thousands of people in Tauranga."

She said The Incubator's efforts to reach out to other groups not typically associated with the arts in order to contribute to the social wellbeing of the community set them apart.

The Incubator won $2000 prize money and will go on to represent Tauranga at the Trustpower National Community Awards, which take place in Queenstown next April.