Community Venue Whangarei

When you're planning an event what is the most important thing to consider? If your answer is 'people', then look no further than a community venue to host your next event! Here are three ways community venues care about people and help you support your local too!

"He aha te mea nui o te ao

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata."

("What is the most important thing in the world?

It is the people, it is the people, it is the people.")

Whether it be birthdays, weddings, meetings or performances, what is at the top of the priority list when it comes to planning events? If the above Māori proverb is anything to go by, it's people! Makes a lot of sense, right? Without people, an event is useless! Savvy event planners should then look for venues that align with this value. Luckily, there are special spaces that exist to care about the local folks and beyond - our wonderful community venues! How so, you ask? Using Whangarei's beloved venue ONEONESIX as an example, here are three ways community halls care about people (which make great reasons to hire them for your next event):

1. Open to everyone - Because they are run by local government or charities, community halls are designed to be accessible to as many people as possible, meaning low hire fees. Speaking of accessibility, these centres also tend to have facilities that are special needs friendly. To illustrate both of these points, ONEONESIX is run by a registered charity trust of the same name and have cheap fees for bookings, even providing use of spaces for free! Also, most of their spaces are wheelchair friendly. At a deeper level, community venues like ONEONESIX are open to everyone, regardless of race, creed or orientation which means they provide a safe place for locals, no matter who they are!

2. For the community, by the community - Not only do they serve local communities by providing a space for their needs, community venues also provide opportunities for their locals to give back, being usually run by dedicated volunteers or funded by donations. This is then funnelled back into the community, in way of providing workshops and other means to up-skill and support local residents. For example, ONEONESIX relies on volunteers to help with maintenance, admin and communications and are open to kohas and donations. All of this goes into the running of community events, education programmes and theatre mentoring as well as hosting a community radio station and developing original, contemporary NZ theatre!

3. Encourages collaboration - Community centres are valuable facilities that run on the power of partnerships! They often collaborate with local government as well as groups and businesses in the district, allowing them to provide better services to the people they serve, and help their partners do the same! ONEONESIX is a great example - putting on fundraisers for schools and providing a space for theatre groups in Whangarei, and even helping out other organisations in Northland (recently donating chairs to Blackbox Theatre in Kerikeri, as seen on their Facebook Page!).

Why are these great reasons to hire out a community venue like ONEONESIX? Because not only are they versatile, accessible and safe places for all, you are giving back to local communities by supporting the work of these spaces, their partners and the people they serve! Who wouldn't want a win-win situation like that?