Good health for community
Opunake Sport and Recreation Trust was formed in 1993 to organise the planning and construction of a new sporting facility for Opunake. This facility is now known as Sinclair Events Centre. It houses Corkills Gym, a fitness room servicing the residents of Opunake and surrounding areas.
“We have about 80 monthly gym members, who improve their physical health with our cardio equipment, free weights and resistance machines. Corkills Gym is also used by Physical Therapists, who bring ACC clients,” Natasha Sefton-Zachan, Facility Manager, said.
“In addition, we provide facilities to all local school children for free during school hours. This ensures tamariki have equitable access to opportunities to promote their physical fitness,”
“Our biggest challenges are that our facility is community owned, so we are reliant on our gym users and customers to fund the day to day running costs. We are provided with some financial assistance from South Taranaki District Council, however our facility relies on volunteers, to keep the running costs as low as possible.”
Funding of $20k from the Toi Foundation enabled Sinclair Events Centre to purchase an oven and gym equipment.
“The Toi Foundation is our main point of call if we need to provide for our community but do not have the funds to do so. This grant has meant our restaurant was able to utilise a Combi oven to provide up to 500 free lunches daily to tamariki at local schools in Opunake.”
“Up to 50,000 people come through the doors of Sinclair Events Centre each year. We provide facilities for public meetings, local community initiatives, sports groups and organisations.”
“I believe up to 1500 people would have benefitted from this initiative, including members of our gym, tamariki and whānau. In addition, new gym equipment ensures our community is provided with up to date physical equipment to maintain their physical fitness. This includes the general public, people with physical disabilities and high school students,” Natasha said.