The $100,000 of prize money distributed as part of Rabobank’s 2025 Community Hub Competition is being put to good use across rural New Zealand, with the 20 competition winners utilising the funding to make meaningful upgrades to their local community hubs.
The competition – which launched in March this year – was open to all rural community halls, clubrooms and marae across New Zealand. The winners were announced in April with each of these receiving $5,000 to allocate towards work improving the interior or exterior of their nominated hub.
The competition was developed by Rabobank after its client council network identified the vital role rural community halls, clubrooms and marae play in providing a suitable location for rural communities to come together.
Rabobank General Manager for Country Banking Bruce Weir said the competition had proven incredibly popular, attracting well over 500 entries.
“The huge volume of entries illustrates just how many rural community hubs there are out there that are in need of a bit of funding support,” he said.
Union Rugby Football Club in Ngapara
“And I know our four regional client councils had a really tough time selecting the winners for their respective regions.”
Mr Weir said Rabobank staff had been out to visit most of the competition winners over recent months.
“Our teams have visited the winners in their local areas to deliver a plaque recognising their success in the competition,” he said.
“And many of our local teams and client council members have flagged they are keen to stay in touch with the winners and follow their progress as they upgrade their facilities.”
Phil Wilson, the Chairman of Union Rugby Football Club in Ngapara, North Otago – one of the competition winners – said the club had used the $5,000 prize money to go towards the purchase and installation of a new Automated External Defibrillator (AED) which had now been fitted to the outside of the clubrooms.
“The clubrooms are a real hub for the local community and, on top of being used by the rugby club, the building is used for a bunch of other purposes including hosting meetings for the local Young Farmers’ club, Federated Farmers, the Corriedale Water Scheme and the local Council. It’s also used as a voting booth for government elections, and as a venue for community first aid courses, summer volleyball, birthday parties and other community events,” he said.
“It gets a mountain of use, so we’re really rapt to have been able to purchase the AED as this could be the difference between life and death if someone had heart attack on the rugby field, the volleyball court or during any other activity in the clubrooms.”
Mr Wilson said the rugby club had let locals know the AED had been installed on the outside of the clubrooms and was there to be used by anyone in the local community.
“Earlier this month we organised someone from St John’s to come along to the clubrooms to give us a run down on how to use the defibrillator, and we had 20 locals from around the area turn up for the session,” he said.
“This was a really worthwhile session and we now have another training evening planned for the near future so that others in the community can attend.”
Stacey Law, the secretary of Tiniroto Community Hall – another of the competition winners – said the prize funds were being used by the hall committee to replace the building’s old drafty windows and doors with aluminium double glazed windows.
“The hall gets used for a wide array of activities including fitness workshops, community dinners, meetings, horse sports, our annual easter game hunt, play group, and as a venue for the local volunteer fire brigade’s debriefings and trainings. Multiple recent road closures and weather events have also highlighted its value as a civil defence hub,” she said.
“It does get pretty cold in the winter and hot in the summer, so we’re using the funding to put in double glazing. This should help to keep the hall at a more consistent temperature as well as reducing power bills and, ultimately, future proof the hall for future generations.”
Mr Weir said the competition prize money was being utilised by other competition winners for all sorts of community hub improvements.
“Other winners have used the funds for things like new furniture, kitchen and bathroom renovations, electrical upgrades and tree trimming,” he said.
“There are also some who are yet to spend their prize money and are planning to put the funds towards upgrade projects that will kick off later in the spring or summer.
“We’re really pleased to see the funding is being spent wisely and is helping ensure these hubs continue to get plenty of use by the local communities.”