Public sector cuts put pressure on Hutt Valley social enterprise at Remakery

RNZ News

a day ago

The Remakery is based inside a converted old plaster factory.
Photo:
Bella Craig/RNZ
A Hutt Valley social enterprise says demand for basic needs has increased since the public sector cuts.
Common Unity Project Aotearoa is based in a building called the 'The Remakery' - home to a koha cafe, community garden and textile workshop.
The group has provided community support for more than 12 years, giving away fresh produce and clothing, and hosting training workshops, but as demand soars, they're after more donations to keep going.
Based in an old plaster factory on Waiwhetū Road, the Common Unity project is a team of six part-time paid staff and a large group of volunteers, relying on community and business donations, as well as seasonal fruit and veges grown on its grounds.
General manager Hannah Pilbrow said the project's core was the building it was housed in, which gave people a sense of belonging.
Common Unity Project general manager Hannah Pilbrow (left) and cafe manager Michaela Taylor (right).
Photo:
Bella Craig/RNZ
"We do huge amounts of community workshops and training," she said. "We have a big māra kai [garden] that's maintained by volunteers and we share that produce with the community.
"We do a koha cafe using that produce and also [use] produce from our partnership with Kaibosh, which is rescued food.
"We have a community compost scheme, where people can come and compost here, if they can't do that at home and in our local primary school, where [the] community began, we still teach gardening and cooking to the kids there."
Only half the building is currently used, because the other half has been deemed an earthquake risk and cordonned off, while they fundraise to make structural improvements.
Outside, The Remakery is home to gardens, where volunteers harvest produce to put on a 'sharing shelf', free to the community.
Sew Good Collective manager Roberta Petit.
Photo:
Bella Craig/RNZ
Pilbrow said demand for food and essential items had increased in Wellington, since the public sector cuts.
"I think you know, in Wellington, especially in the past couple of years, we've really seen the effect of the public service cuts," she said. "People being out of work is very challenging financially."
Last year, the project ran more than 250 events, supported 2000 people and grew more than 700kg of organic produce.
Fruit and vegetables grown on site are also used at the koha cafe, where people can get a hot meal once a week.
Manager Michaela Taylor said the model worked, because they focussed on seasonal food.
"[It's] pay what you can afford, so when we have the cafe open, if they can afford $2 or $12, whatever they can afford.
"It works, because we stick to locally grown and sustainable food sources [for] most of the food that we cook with. At the moment, the recipes tend to be courgettes, pumpkin or tomato based."
The cafe also runs free barista courses for people looking to learn an extra skill.
Sew Good Collective volunteers.
Photo:
Bella Craig/RNZ
Taylor said The Remakery's sharing shelf was in high demand and refilled several times a day.
"More people are coming to see the sharing shelf, so we've had to stagger during the day, when we put it out, so that it's not all consumed by the first wave.
"We put it out in the afternoon as well for the mums or parents picking up [their children] from school."
Roberta Petit runs the Sew Good Collective, another branch of the project, which runs workshops where people sew together recycled materials - free of charge.
Items for sale from The Remakery, such as honey, chutney and eggs.
Photo:
Bella Craig/RNZ
Clothing is donated to Hutt Hospital, Wellington City Mission and a refugee centre in the CBD.
"All our machines and our textiles are donations from the community," Petit said. "What we offer is the opportunity to learn a new skill - a life skill - and the opportunity to open a new cycle of materials that otherwise will be thrown in the landfill."
They also use donated clothes that are deemed faulty to be more sustainable and help curb overconsumption of fast fashion.
Funding the project's services comes from a range of charities and community organisations, and through items made on site and sold in their shop.
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