Hakeke Street Community Centre open day to celebrate Whanganui facility’s expansion

Marie Butturini, Love And Learn Childcare manager and founding board member of Hakeke Street Community Centre, with Kelly Plumridge, manager of Hakeke Street Community Centre.

Free fun and free kai

The whole complex at Hakeke Street Community Centre and Love and Learn Childcare will be opening for a Community Open Day on Saturday, September 14.

The community centre received funding from Whanganui District Council recently to enable the employment of two more staff. This is to open for longer hours to support the community after a lot of feedback about being more available after school and at the weekends.

From September 16, Hakeke Community Centre will be open 9am-4.30pm Monday to Friday and 10am-2pm on Saturdays.

Love And Learn has expanded to the middle of the building so numbers could be extended to have more children enrolled. The centre now accommodates 15 under-2-year-olds and up to 75 2- to 6-year-olds with the large extension.

Marie Butturini, Love And Learn Childcare manager and founding board member of Hakeke Street Community Centre, says it is “a great time to open up to the community so people can have a look at the extensive facilities and celebrate the support from council to extend hours for the community centre”.

“Each year we have had a lot of inquiries for spaces, and we simply couldn’t accommodate them. We now have a lot of space as the facility is so large.

“In addition, we have successfully supported multiple parents through the three-year teaching degree and this extension allows us to commit to this vision even further. This extension has created another six fulltime jobs.”

The centre hadn’t had a fun day in a while, so there will be a walk through the daycare and a chance to chat with the teachers, and a sausage sizzle, bouncy castle and bike track will be operating.

The library will be open at the other end, with new staff on hand. The community room will be showcased - it can be hired for birthdays and corporate events.

There will be ice cream, a face painter, a play lab with sporting activities, and a few surprises for the tamariki to pat and explore. The event finishes with a colour run on Williams Domain across the road at 12.30pm. Kids can race with their parents and have some fun.

The community can also take the opportunity to inspect the new basketball court.

“It’s spring, a great time to celebrate, and focus on the benefits of kotahitanga,” said Butturini.