Seven groups involved in shared services pilot programme

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Sport Tairawhiti Gisborne's shared services hub pilot programme has been launched with exciting prospects.

Seven groups are involved, with two more pending, and if things go according to plan there may be room for expansion as early as March next year.

The groups are Swim For Life Tairawhiti, Parafed Gisborne Tairawhiti, Gisborne Boardriders Club, Horouta Waka Hoe, Tairawhiti Softball Association, Gisborne Basketball Association and Pakirikiri Marae.

Another East Coast marae and sports club are pending.

The idea to have clubs and groups come together to work collaboratively has been years in the making, Sport Gisborne Tairawhiti chief executive Stefan Pishief said.

Funding was provided for the one year of the pilot, with $50,000 coming from the Provincial Growth Fund and $75,000 from Trust Tairawhiti.

With several highly experienced people on board in communications, project management, sports governance and finance, clubs will have the option to use whatever resources they need to focus on better delivering their services to the community.

Mr Pishief said with growth the programme would be able to better bargain for collective market rates for services they needed.

The pilot programme is free but plans are to expand it to a paid service that can be self-sustaining.

Mr Pishief said following the lead of several other programmes across the country, hopes were it would become a permanent feature of the Tairawhiti landscape.