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Mark Chrystall, chair of the Rabobank Lower North Island Client Council.
Twenty rural community hubs across New Zealand will receive $5,000 to upgrade their facilities having been selected as the winners of Rabobank's Community Hub Competition.
The competition - which ran throughout March - was open to all rural community halls, clubrooms and marae across New Zealand and attracted well over 500 entries.
Running for the first time in 2025, the competition was developed by Rabobank after their 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.
The $100,000 total prize money for the competition will be drawn from the Rabo Community Fund - a fund set up in 2021 and backed by an annual contribution from the Rabobank Group. The funding will be used by competition winners for work that improves the interior or exterior of their nominated hall, clubrooms or marae.
Mark Chrystall, the chair of the Rabobank Lower North Island Client Council, said it was fantastic to see the competition attract so many entries.
"We know halls, clubrooms and marae are incredibly important for rural communities, and we expected there would be plenty of interest in the competition. But we were blown away by the volume of entries that came in, and I think this really illustrates just how many community hubs there are out there across rural New Zealand which are in need of a bit of funding support," he said.
Chrystall, who is a director of Spring Farms Ltd, a sheep and beef operation located east of Taihape, said the bank's four regional client councils were allocated the challenging task of selecting five competition winners from their respective regions.
"There were so many great entries, and it was fantastic to read in the entry forms about the huge variety of community groups that are utilising their local community hub for all sorts of different events," he said.
"Many of the nominated halls, clubrooms or marae, have been around a long time, and it's clear that some of these buildings have played a big role in the history of their local area.
"As a council, we did find it incredibly difficult to select the winners. Ultimately, we went with hubs which are being widely used by local community members, and where we felt $5,000 of funding would make a meaningful difference to the upgrade of facilities."
Chrystall said members of Rabobank's Client Councils were keen to stay in touch with the winning entrants from across the country.
"We're hoping the funding support will mean the winning entrants get even more use out of their nominated buildings, and we're certainly keen to be kept up to date with progress on the upgrade of their facilities."
Rabobank general manager for country banking Bruce Weir said the competition was part of the broader work the bank was doing alongside its Client Councils to grow and strengthen rural communities.
"Our Client Councils have a deep understanding of the issues facing rural communities across New Zealand, and we're committed to continuing our work with them to develop initiatives, strategies and ideas that advance farming and rural communities," he said.
"Since the formation of the Rabo Community Fund in 2021, we've committed over $3m of funding to rural community projects, and we're really proud of the impact these initiatives are having across rural New Zealand."
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