South Canterbury News
Students relaxing in the new sheltered outdoor area
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New outdoor area has ‘changed lives’
A massive fundraising effort by Community College South Canterbury’s staff and students has led to the development of a fantastic new covered outdoor area. Manager Andrea Armstrong says that everyone is “very proud” of the area which has provided students with some much-needed outdoor recreational space.
“Initially we had a big area out the back of the College with picnic tables but it was undeveloped. There was no covered area at all where the students could relax.” Now a large gazebo-like structure takes pride of place in the quad. It has a clear-lite roof, and plenty of seating to accommodate several students at a time. A table-tennis table is wheeled into the area most lunch breaks providing a physical outlet and some friendly competition for the students.
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Andrea says that she had wanted to develop the area for a long time. “I got together with a local builder and said I wanted to create something
startling for the students. We drew some plans but when the costings came back at $16,000.” That’s when Andrea says her “determined streak”
kicked in.
“I looked at how we could fundraise to make it happen and managed to secure an initial donation of $2,000 from WAVE (Wellbeing and Vitality in
Education), a District Health Board initiative.” Andrea put the challenge to the students, saying that she would like to build them an outdoor area,
but they would have to do something to fundraise for it themselves. Within half-an-hour the first student had come to her with a fundraising idea.
In the end, the students and staff did everything from cutting and raffling firewood, to picking pine cones; car washes; making and selling cheese
rolls and bath bombs; sausage sizzles; and running a community garage sale.
Andrea said local builder Dan Gallagher trimmed his price right back for the College. “We started putting the area up in February and it’s amazing.
The students are so proud of what they’ve helped to achieve and are very respectful of it. It’s changed our lives.”
The staff hasn’t missed out either. New outdoor seating has been put in for them in front of the College, although unlike the students’ area,
it is uncovered.
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