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Christmas has come early for Hestia Rodney Women’s Refuge with Mahurangi College donating a children’s playhouse built by Year 13 students for the organisation.
Hestia’s Claudia said the timing could not have been better.
“Our little cubby house is used so much by the kids at the safe house it’s not funny,” she said.
The refuge had been trying to replace its worn-out playhouse for weeks when Citizens Advice Bureau contacted Claudia to say the college had some available. She then reached out to the school’s building academy director, Nick Booth.
However, normally the playhouses cost between $1000 and $2000, which was beyond the refuge’s budget.
“But then the college said they’d gift it to us. So we’ve chosen one and just need to get it to the refuge.”
Claudia said it meant a lot knowing it had been built locally.
“The Mahu College kids actually made this. So we’re going to get them down for a morning tea, but they’re all on holidays and doing exams at the moment. It was such a lovely thing for them to do.”
Booth said the playhouses were constructed as part of the Year 13 building academy programme.
“Claudia came down a few weeks ago to see if there was something she could use and identified a style that she liked,” he said.
Booth initially asked Hestia to make a small donation, but after further discussion the college decided to gift it.
He said the structure was built-to-last with pressure-treated timber and a double-skin system of treated plywood inside and out.
“It’s not easily damaged so the kids will be able to use it for decades.”
Booth said donating the playhouse to Hestia was meaningful for the students.
“For the boys who have built these, I’m able to tell them that their work is for a good cause, which is very encouraging for them,” he said.
“I know that Claudia was well pleased, she was stoked. And we were happy to do it.”
