Sport Tasman initiative up for national award

By George Turner

A community initiative from Sport Tasman has been announced as a finalist for the annual New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards.

The Active Recreation for Refugees programme has been providing recreational and community opportunities for Nelson’s refugee population, working with organisations such as Nelson Red Cross and Nelson Multicultural Centre to support refugees from Colombia, Myanmar and Nepal.

Nelson’s community orientation programme included school enrolment, employment and English language classes, but what was missing was the link between these communities through active recreation and understanding that active recreation is an important connection for both physical and mental wellbeing.

Co-designing the programme with the refugee community allowed for a collaboration in the initiatives and helped create influence within the community. Examples of this include a venture between the Muslim community, Nelson Red Cross and WaterSafety NZ to provide a learn-to-swim program for Muslim girls.

Barbara Whittaker, a social worker at the Red Cross Refugee Resettlement Services, says youth events that have been collaboratively organised by Red Cross Nelson and Sport Tasman connect the Colombian youth from all of the Nelson suburbs including Stoke, strengthening their relationships.

Whittaker says the focus on inclusivity and healthy relationships in recreation is having a positive effect not just on the youth, but on the rest of the refugee community as well, helping form relationships between adults who normally "wouldn’t get along with each other.”

Sport Tasman says the programme has increased refugees’ connection in local schools, enabled a wider sharing of cultures within the Nelson/Tasman community and built personal confidence and pride in those engaging in the program.