Ngā Puna Wai is a hot spot buzzing with activity over the summer months with numerous tournaments, competitions, practices and events held by a range of different sporting codes making the most of the outstanding facility.

It’s not just sports utilising the space during this period – a variety of non-sporting organisations are seeing the benefits of hosting events at the city’s southwestern home of sport, including The Christchurch Car Show and Dementia Canterbury’s Memory Walk. 

Jumayah Jones, Programme Facilitator at the Nawawi Center, is another local who is keen to make the most of Ngā Puna Wai, and in doing so, highlights the venue as a unique space that encourages community activation.
 

The Nawawi Center is a not-for-profit Muslim grassroots organisation founded in 2008 that aims to bring people together and advocates peace to build a stronger community in Christchurch. Their team of professional volunteers have trained in project and event management, which has enabled the Center to run events and projects ranging from educational workshops, camps and retreats to community festivals.

Following the 2019 March 15 attacks, the Nawawi Center identified a gap in support for young Muslims and decided to scale back on the traditionally community-wide focus of their projects to concentrate specifically on youth and children.

On Monday 25 January Jumayah brought together 80 children along with their families for a one-day holiday programme where the children were able to take part in Sport Canterbury’s Top Team Challenge.

“We have educational activities during the holidays for the children, and we try to give them fun activities as well, in the past we have visited Inflatable World and Clip ’n’ Climb. I was introduced to Sport Canterbury’s Top Team Challenge through Rebecca Logan, (who leads their Strength and Balance initiative), and thought it sounded amazing, so I decided to organise it today.”

The session was offered by Sport Canterbury as a way to not only allow the tamariki and their families to experience something new and exciting, but to bring people to Ngā Puna Wai who may not have visited the community hub previously.

“I don’t think anyone of us knew about Ngā Puna Wai, so it’s fantastic to find out about this facility – that’s why I tried to invite all of the parents, even if they don’t have children here today to come and find out what facilities there are here. I think it’s such a wonderful venue, and we didn’t know it existed,” says Jumayah.

“I would like this event to be an introduction of the wonderful venue and activity possibilities for our community.”

“I am hoping to make this event for every school holidays in the future,” she adds.

Ngā Puna Wai Partnership and Activation Manager Katrina Mansfield is thrilled to see this space being used during the school holidays, and for an activity that is different from your standard sports days. With increased awareness of this venue, others will feel encouraged to think outside the box of how this space can be utilised.
 

Twelve-year-old Fatima loved her first Top Team Challenge experience with Sport Canterbury: “I think it’s really amazing, I haven’t done it before, it’s really challenging, and you get to work as a team.” 

Her thoughts on Ngā Puna Wai, as a facility were also positive: “There are so many places to play - it’s so cool.”
 

Eleven-year-old Ahmad, expressed the same excitement about Top Team adding: “It’s really fun, it gets you active, there are lots of sports and fun activities, which are mainly about teamwork.”

He also shared his thoughts on the facility saying: “It’s pretty big, it’s pretty cool, and there are lots of things to do.”

Jumayah was thrilled with how successful the day was overall and was excited to see all the smiling faces.

Bookings can be made for Ngā Puna Wai by following this link to the Bookings page Click here or emailing [email protected]. 
 
Learn more about the Nawawi Center - https://www.nawawicenter.org/ 
 

Check out the latest events at Ngā Puna Wai - Click here 

Follow Sport Canterbury on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sportcanterburynz 

Article added: Friday 29 January 2021