Stone Soup Community members were stoked to win the supreme award at Wanganui's second annual Trustpower Energy Direct Community Awards.
They are the ones who set up and pack down the two-monthly Stone Soup events held at Lorenzdale Park in Gonville's Swiss Avenue, where they dig hangi holes and prepare donated food for the lunches.
There are about 60 volunteers with a small committee of residents working in the background.
About 300 people usually come to the events and they provide a bouncy castle for children, sports, games and quizzes and a "community chat" tent where people can talk about what's working in the suburb and what's not.
From those talks come new initiatives; one of which is the Totara Movement about expanding safe homes and communities. Another has been the Growing Gardeners group.
The volunteers lobbied Wanganui council for a children's playground to enliven nearby Rogers Street, and construction of that began last month.
The last Stone Soup gathering was in August, and the next is on November 29, with a Christmas theme.
In March the group has an all-expenses-paid trip to Wellington for the national Trustpower awards. The Stone Soup events come under the umbrella of Te Ora Hou, a nationwide Christian organisation aiming to help Maori, youth and communities.
The winner of the Youth Community Spirit award was Eruera Heitia-Ponga, head boy of Wanganui City College. He got up on stage and gave a speech, then invited his friend up with a guitar so that they could both sing a song.
Event organiser Suzi Luff said that had never happened at any previous awards ceremony.
There were also five category awards won by the Wanganui Vintage Car Club, Wanganui Red Cross, Gonville Knitting Group, the NZRDA Wanganui Group and the Wanganui Community Education Service.
The awards were presented before an audience of hundreds at the Wanganui War Memorial Centre.