Crofton Downs Community Hall

We need your help to strengthen our Hall - Please Donate!

On this page you can access our Sakura Blossom recognition programme, where families or organisations who donate $100 or over (and wish to be recognised) can choose a Sakura blossom with their name to be permanently displayed in the strengthened hall. The blossom colours and levels are outlined below.

White blossom $100 - $249

Purple blossom $250 - $499

Pink blossom $500 - $999

Silver blossom $1,000+

Upon donating $100 or more, enter the name you wish to be included on your Sakura Blossom into the payment details section. You will receive 1 blossom per donation. Donations under $100 will be acknowledged with a certificate.

We appeal to you to donate as generously as possible so this project can proceed - maybe your extended family would like to chip in or you could initiate a fundraising drive of your own to earn a blossom!

Did you know - your donation could be eligible for a tax credit. That means you could get back 33% of every $1 that you donate. Check the IRD website to confirm your eligibility - www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax-individual/tax-credits

Thank you! With everyone behind us, we can bring the foundation of our community back to life.

A little history -

The Crofton Downs Community hall, or Sakura Hall as it is also known, is located on the grounds of Crofton Downs Primary School in Wellington. It was designed by local Architect Brian Hope. It is a large multi-purpose facility in beautiful condition and suitable for a wide range of sporting, cultural and social activities. It is a valuable and well loved local asset that has been regularly used by local community groups, sports organisations, Wellington's city-wide Japanese community and supplementary school and the Crofton Downs Primary School. It was built from community fundraising efforts in 1991.

Our beautiful Community Hall was closed in 2014 when it was deemed to be an 'earthquake prone building', meeting only 13% of the New Building Standards (NBS). Construction work is now required to structurally strengthen the Hall to an acceptable level.

With this project estimated to cost approximately $455,000.00, we are extremely grateful to have received generous donations from a number of contributors thus far. With the funds raised to date, we are poised to commission the construction work in July 2016.

We are now urgently appealing to the local community, extended school families, hall users, supporters and businesses to meet the $45,000 shortfall necessary to fully fund the strengthening work and re-open the hall as soon as possible.

The Crofton Downs Primary School (CDPS) Board of Trustees must cover all the costs for this project, as it is the sole owner and guardian of the Hall. There is no financial support available from the Ministry of Education. Money raised from this fundraising drive, will go to the CDPS Board of Trustees, for the sole purpose of restrengthening the Hall.

Due to a lack of similar facilities in the area, the demand is high from the community to have the Hall reopened so that it can be used again. In excellent condition due to regular maintenance, but sitting idle due to the changed seismic requirements, the Hall is currently a wasted asset.

Our sincere thanks go to the following organisations for their donations and grants - Lottery Community Facilities Committee of the NZ Lottery Grants Board, The Transpower Community Care Fund, The Japanese Businesspeople’s Association, Mitsubishi Motors NZ and the CDPS PTA.

We hope our Givealittle site enables the many past, present and future Community Hall users the opportunity to support us in ensuring this excellent resource is returned to public use.

Once reopened, the Crofton Downs Community Hall will again act as a focal point for local arts, recreational and social activities, allowing people to easily come together and connect. We very much look forward to reopening it's doors to the community.