The First 30 years  1987 – 2017

Why was a “community or resource centre” considered desirable? Island Bay in 1987 was a very different suburb from what we see in 2017. There were no cafes; the Empire Cinema was a hardware store; and the church halls and sports clubs were the primary meeting places for the community. There was a large older retired population, many strongly connected to their various church communities, and a younger population regenerating the suburb as the older population moved on from their now too large and often difficult access houses. But this younger population was not connected to the church communities and there was no central meeting point for this new community outside the schools and pre-schools. 

A community liaison committee met monthly and brought the key leaders in the community together, including the district nursing service, Plunket Society representatives, the community constable (then based in the Island Bay shopping centre), the church leaders, the local MP's representative and the City Council community development officer for the area. The issues of the lack of a central co-ordinating point for the community services were raised at their meeting early in 1987. In particular the district nursing team were concerned that there was no organisation or central point which they could tap into to provide support for the elderly people they were working with in the Island Bay community. 

Jeanette O'Callaghan, then Chairperson of the Plunket committee and long-time resident in Island Bay, took on the responsibility of bringing together a working group to look at establishing a central point or organisation for the community. The model that the group was inspired by was the Newlands Community Resource Centre which was funded by the Council and which had proved very successful in bringing the Newlands community together.

The working group of eight women led by Jeanette and supported by two community development advisors from the Council aimed to initially establish a telephone information service and drop-in information Centre, staffed by volunteers, for the Island Bay/Owhiro Bay/Houghton Bay communities. The goal was to get a building to set up, hopefully a Council owned facility. Nothing was available in Island Bay and after six months the group had failed to find a suitable and affordable premises, but had organized resource files, developed a constitution to establish as an incorporated society, and constituted to lobby and argue the case for support to councillors and council officers. 

On December 2 1987, a public meeting was held to formally constitute the Island Bay Community Resource Centre. This was an important step as it enabled the organisation to apply for funding from the Council as well as the Lotteries Board and other philanthropic trusts. Funding was quickly secured from the Lotteries Board subject to finding a suitable premises from which to operate. 

The Centre, therefore, which had been an idea in progressive minds for some time, took its first step towards becoming reality at an April 1987 meeting and its second step in  December 1987.  In April 1988, a year after the initial meeting, the Island Bay Community Resource Centre  opened in a rented bed-sitter, Flat 1 at 163 The Parade. It was obvious that this was just a start, and that the premises would not be adequate for either current activities or for those planned for the future, and in July the committee met with local councillors to discuss the possibility of moving at some future date to 137 The Parade. The Centre was wholly staffed by volunteers, working two-hour shifts weekly or fortnightly, and voluntary skills, time and labour would continue to be the backbone of the Centre for many years.

A Southern News item dated 04/08/88 states that the Centre, open 10am to 4am each weekday, was seeing a steady stream of visitors seeking information and was also running several group activities. These included a pre-school music group which operated from the Baptist Church Hall each week, a pre-school craft group,  a Monday Crafts group led by Diane Sweet and a Scrabble group on Wednesdays.  The Centre aimed to be the key source of information about services and activities for people of Island Bay, Owhiro Bay and Houghton Bay, and also aimed to be a community meeting place. Towards this end, the Tuesday of this week saw the first community lunch and these would be held regularly each Tuesday 12.30 to 1.30pm. On the menu were home-made soup, sandwiches, freshly baked cake and tea/coffee, costing $2 per person. This particular initiative lasted until the end of November 1988, but was  to continue from February 1989 “depending on support”. The inadequate facilities contributed to the end of the community lunches, but it is not clear when they ceased.

The first AGM, which was held in July 1988, saw the election of an enthusiastic committee whose first activity appears to have been spring-cleaning the Centre. The news item closed with an invitation for people to volunteer to assist or to ask for advice by phoning the Centre (between 10am and 4pm), or  (committee member) Noeline Wesney.

Another activity was the launching in the Southern News of 18/08/88 of  a survey to make the Centre known throughout its catchment area and to find out what people were wanting from the Centre.  Membership is offered at $2 a year, volunteers are called for to staff the Centre, help with maintenance, join the committee, organise interest groups, provide home help and take part in the school holiday programme. The activities offered are advertised to prospective participants, and locals are asked what they want from the Centre. The survey is backed by several advertisments from local businesses wishing the Island Bay Community Resource Centre well, and presumably they were also financial supporters. The Committee chairperson is named as Jeanette O'Callaghan, who was one of those responsible for the idea of and work towards setting up the Centre.

By November the activities offered included a walking  group which met every Tuesday. This was established as a result of the survey, and was to prove one of the Centre's largest and longest lasting groups.The Wellington Southern Bays Historical Society cherishes among its artifacts two large green sweatshirts with the walkers' logo on them.  The Walking Group grew rapidly to become the heart and soul of the Centre; not only did its members form a cohesive social group for the older members of our community but they were consistent volunteers for the Centre's roster for the information service, provided a number of committee members over many years, and were always on hand for working bees and fundraising activities. Most importantly the Walking Group provided a meeting point for active retired people across the community. Many of these people were involved in the large church communities that exist in Island Bay but there was no 'common' ground for them to meet and socialize. The Walking Group still existed in 2009 but folded a short time later. A Slimmers Club met on Friday, and the premises were used by the SPCA and Blind Foundation to organise their annual appeals. Like all community groups the Centre was always short of volunteers and money to pay the bills, and in mid-December held its major fundraiser – the staging of the annual Crafts for Christmas Expo over three days at the Michael Fowler Centre. A special general meeting was held on September 29 to amend the constitution to gain charitable status.

A news item dated December 6, 1989, mentions that the Centre has just appointed its first paid co-ordinator,  Jim Bagley. He began on seven paid hours a week, increasing to twelve in February 1990, but found both hours and premises inadequate and resigned in August 1990. During his time at the Centre he established some new programmes, including the Tea and Chat Session which was to prove very popular for a number of years. December 1989 saw the Centre again organising the Crafts for Christmas over three days at the Michael Fowler Centre. 

The question of moving to 137 The Parade was raised again in December 1990. The Council refused to approve a proposal, saying it needed more information, but by 06/02/91 the move was approved in principle. The Community Centre representative at this time was Sue Ryall, who would become the Centre's second  paid co-ordinator in March this year, and remain in the position until February 1994. 

Meanwhile the Centre soldiered on in Flat 1, 163 The Parade, with some activities successful and enduring, and others ephemeral. On 06/02/1991 the Southern News Community Diary lists the 

 Island Bay Community Resource Centre as being open daily 10-4, with Craft Group Monday, Walking Group Tuesday, Cards Wednesday, Afternoon Tea for the Elderly Thursday, and the District Health Nurse on Friday at monthly intervals.

 The Southern News of 14/08/91 announces with obvious pleasure that WCC will fund the the upgrading of 137 The Parade at a cost of  $70,000 to give the Centre permanent premises. Co-ordinator Sue Ryall, however, had mixed feelings, as the Council had refused to extend her hours of work. At this time she was funded by the Council for ten hours a week, with centre funds paying her for another five, but even so running the centre was not easy. 

By early November 1991 the Centre was growing desperate for funds, with enough money to cover costs only till March 1992. Expenses including the telephone, electricity and general office expenses were covered by donations but the rent for 163 The Parade was $500 a month, which was hard to find.  Delays in decisions over the anticipated new premises had left the Centre uncertain of its future, and the committee was resorting pizzas, garlic bread, biscuits and muffins to raise some cash. (We learn in September 1992 that $237 was raised.) 

But by 18/12/91 things were looking up. The Wellington City Council's housing and community development committee finally approved the development of 137 The Parade with a grant of $70,000. As the cost was likely to be $10-15,000 more  it was planned to hold a Charity Auction during the 1992 Festival, and the Wellington South Licensing Trust donated $5000. Tenders went out in the last week of March 1992, the premises were ready for occupation late August, and the move took place on September 5. The Centre was officially opened by Councillor John Gilberthorpe at 4pm on Friday October 2  1992 and the next two days were open days with local residents invited to come in and look around. On display were Neal Palmer's boards “We Came to Island Bay”, originally exhibited in the Surf Club at the 1992 Festival, now (2017) in the possession of the Southern Bays Historical Society and stored with the rest of its Collection in the Community Centre.

Co-ordinator Sue Ryall, who had been involved with the Centre since its beginnings in 1987, rejoiced in the realisation of a dream five years in the making. As well as establishing the Centre in adequate permanent premises her targets as co-ordinator had been to set up regular school holiday programmes and to widen the Centre's contacts in the Community, and she was able to report success in all fields, 

The new centre boasted a large meeting room with an attached kitchen, a smaller meeting room, an office for the co-ordinator and an out-door play-area. It was made possible by donations from many sources, including the WCC, Lottery Grants Board, the JR McKensie Trust, the TG McArthy Trust, the Wellington South Licensing Trust, the John Arlott Trust, the Sutherland Self Help Foundation, and the Roy McKensie Foundation. In addition many hours of voluntary work saw the section landscaped. In July the Council increased the co-ordinator's hours from ten to twenty a week.

The Island Bay Community Resource Centre flourished in its new premises. Old favourites were the Craft group (Mondays), the Walkers group (Tuesdays), and the Tea and Chat Group (Thursdays). New offerings were Yoga classes taken by Noeline Wasney, and the U3A Proramme which had started in June 1991 at St. Hildas.

In February 1994, in a new venture, the WCC gave the Centre a $5000 grant to employ a youth worker for ten hours a week until November, and in March Tom McPhee was appointed. Details about subsequent youth workers, their hours and how they were funded are scanty, but in October  1995 Cathy Bollinger took on the job briefly and Stephen Booth replaced her in February 1996.

Also in February 1994 Sue Ryall resigned as cordinator after seven year involvement with the Centre and after overseeing it grow from an idea to an established and respected part of the community. Her place was taken by Maani Kirby, also working twenty hours a week, who resigned in April 1995. Cindy Munn took over, left in June 1996 and was succeeded by Theresa Arand. 

While some activities flourished, due to continued popular demand, others came and went, sometimes because they depended on the enthusiasm or expertise of only one or two people. 1996 saw the creation of a playgroup offering support to fathers in full-time child-care. The Cook Strait News of 16/11/96 records Supergrans working with Mothers Alone members at the Island Bay Centre. Line dancing proved popular in late 1996, and the Quilters Group makes the  Cook Strait News  in 1997. 

We aim to:

• Provide a comfortable and relaxed meeting place for groups to use

• Provide an information service on local activities and services

• Support social, cultural, recreational and educational activities in Island Bay, Owhiro Bay and Houghton Bay

• Organise activity programmes in response to the needs of the community

• Provide excellent School Holiday Programmes for the Island Bay, Owhiro Bay and Houghton Bay areas

This was well before Mr McCready's report was produced, in July, and the timeline does not mention that in September 2007 the Council did in fact review the Centre's accounts in the wake of the alleged deficit and found “some elements of historic sloppiness but no missing thousands.” Thus the Council's proposed  limited amount of free  accounting help for community centres can scarcely be described as a U-turn. The internal wrangles continued on policy matters, and were brought to a head by the resignation of  three staff members, leaving the board without a quorum and unable to access the Centre's bank acount. The Council then stepped in and provided funding and management assistance to keep the Centre going, and finally took over running the Centre on July 1, 2008, ending its life as an independent body after 20 years.

The community support for the Centre never seemed to waver, and in March 2009 co-ordinator Eddie Rowe received one of Pete's Picnic Tables for the front lawn as a gift from the Island Bay Lions Club. In August he is photographed with the Centres art facilitator, Andrea Cootes, who would hold a variety of classes during the next few years and is still adding colour, both literally and metaphorically, to the Centre. In August 2010 Rose Swindells was appointed co-ordinator, and was joined by Helen Scobie as part time adviser in July 2011. Colin Slade stepped in as co-ordinator when Rose went on maternity leave at the beginning of 2012, with Helen continuing as advisor. Council restructuring in April 2013 led to the Library section of the Council taking reponsibility for the Centre, and Lisa Cunninham arrived in June 2013 to do the co-ordinators job as “Community Centre Advocate.”. In  2017 she is still the Centre's inspiration and anchor.

The class numbers continue to flourish, the garden is well cultivated, school programmes continue and a number of people find being fully accepted and welcome at the Centre a much-needed certainty in their lives. Events over the last eight years include the housing of the Historical society Collection with open days 10-2pm most Fridays of the year, the launching of the boat “Sea Dreamer', donated by Robert Logan, Neighbours' Days, the introduction of Time bank, Matariki Celebrations, the introduction of Wi-Fi, pre-Christmas Christmas dinners, participation in the Festival and much more. The Centre looks set for at least another 30 years.

• A number of interesting changes to the Centre are observable over the years. Initially it was called  the Island Bay Community Resource Centre, and the word Resource is visible in a signboard attached first to 163 The Parade and susequently to 137 The Parade. It was still used by press reports of events in 2000 and 2001, but by 2003 the word has dropped out of use and references are made to the Island Bay Community Centre only. It would be interesting to know if this was a conscious decision.

• The early Centre placed great emphasis on being a drop-in centre, hence the community lunches and attempts to restart them in 1992. Today the emphasis is far more on providing space for specific interest groups and functions. This may be due in part to the growth in number of cafes and other meeting places in Island Bay from the 1990s.

• The 1990s saw much emphasis on providing activities for bored Island Bay young people, with designated youth workers, and culminating in the highly successful concerts at Shorland park  1999-2000. Youth activities receive less emphasis today, possibly because the net allows the young to amuse themselves .

• The net has also caused major changes in the way the Centre communicates with the Community. Each Friday Community news and notification of events goes out to interested parties at the flick of a button. The amount of work to create the newsletter is probably much the same, but delivery is so simple compared with the days of gestetners, enveloping, postouts and hand deliveries, and  putting up posters.