Latest news

October 2026: With Te Whatu Ora we hosted a seed & plant swap day as part of Mental Awareness Week, with about 30 people taking part and mixing ideas with each other. It was such a popular event that we will try to make it a regular service.

October 7 2026: The local Guardian newspaper ran a two-page feature, supported by a dozen local organisations, about the work of the Community House, including efforts under way by our new Board of Trustees to grow and strengthen the awareness and understanding among our community of that work. Many thanks to the Guardian writers for accurately reflecting our story.

August 2026: A beautiful new Welcoming mural, ‘Haere mai’ lights up our front wall. It was a joint project between Motueka Arts Council and Multicultural Nelson Tasman (both tenants of ours), funded by Creative Communities, and brought to life with contributions from the community plus artistic direction from Dani Louis. From a turtle representing Panama through to a good cup of British tea, the mural celebrates the many cultures that are part of our Motueka community, with greetings in languages from around the world. A really special addition to the Community House.

August 2026: More than 80 people gathered to reflect on 40 years of the Motueka Community and Whānau network. For most of those years the monthly (1st Wednesday of the month) meetings have been hosted and facilitated by Motueka Community House. The network has become a valuable forum where community groups and local agencies and NGOs can share ideas and resources, support each other’s mahi and work together to address local challenges.

August 2026: The Community House launched this, our first website, created by one of our volunteers.

July 2026: Four new enthusiastic and talented trustees joined our team – Jem Meegan, Janet Sim, Trudi van der Merwe and Maureen Urwin. Thank you to Margreet de Vries who has recently left the Trust. David Armstrong was appointed secretary.

May 2026: (From New World) “Massive appreciation for our generous local community who donated 300 bags of much needed grocery items, delivered to Motueka Community House from our recent Family to Family appeal!!

Backing this up, New World Motueka added in $2,000 donations to both Food Share Motueka and Motueka Community House. These 2 organisations do so much amazing work in our community. Heartfelt thanks to our amazing customers in helping us support these wonderful people and their teams of helpers, in their efforts to provide the critical support that they offer households in our town.”

February 2026: The new Motueka Community House Board became a fully registered Charitable Trust. Previously it had been an Incorporated Society, but changes to both funding models and the general way in which we operate meant a Trust model would enable us to work more efficiently and effectively. Initial trustees were Linda Glew (elected chair), Sarah Kay (elected treasurer), Margreet de Vries (minutes secretary), Jan Bensemann and David Armstrong.