Te Miro Settlers Hall is the overall winner of the 2026 Rabobank Good Deeds Community Hub Competition.
Te Miro Settlers Hall is the overall winner of the 2026 Rabobank Good Deeds Community Hub Competition.
Te Miro Settlers Hall near Cambridge has been named the overall winner of Rabobank’s Good Deeds Community Hub Competition, securing $10,000 in funding and a day’s labour support from Rabobank and The Country.
The hall is one of 10 rural community hubs nationwide to receive funding through the competition, whichran throughout March and attracted more than 250 entries.
The programme merged Rabobank’s long‑running Good Deeds initiative with its newer Community Hub competition.
Matt Keyte, local mechanic and chair of the Te Miro Settlers Hall committee, was thrilled with the win.
Born and bred on a Te Miro farm, Keyte has encyclopedic knowledge of the village’s history, which grew out of the post‑World War I settlement of ballot block farms for returned servicemen.
“My great-grandfather was one of the returned servicemen, and he lived in a tent for a year amongst the scrub with three little children,” he told The Country’s Jamie Mackay.
“So, yes, it was really tough forging farms out of that scrub country.”
Keyte was looking forward to putting the funding to good use.
“Well, firstly, such a huge thanks to Rabobank – this is really significant for a little hall like ours," he said.
“We’re going to put in a couple of new heat pumps to replace a derelict LPG heater.”
There were plenty of tasks for the working bee as well.
“We’ve also got a bit of planting to do around the hall and domain with some native plants, flaxes, grasses and bits and pieces – [and] a kids’ playground that needs sanding and painting.
“So yeah, a working bee of labour from Rabobank’s going to come in very handy.”
Rabobank chief executive Todd Charteris said the labour days were always “fantastic events” that brought communities together.
“The local Rabo team always gets stuck in, and plenty gets done, and I’ve no doubt the Waikato team will do the same when the working bee at Te Miro Settlers Hall takes place at some stage later this year.”
The 10 winners were selected by members of Rabobank’s four regional client councils.
Rabobank Upper North Island Client Council Chair Tam Jex-Blake said the competition entries reflected the importance of rural community hubs.
Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Matt Keyte on The Country below:
“[They] are being used for a massive array of different events and activities, and in many cases, these facilities are being used by multiple groups each day,” she said.
Jex-Blake said all 10 members of the Client Council were unanimous in choosing Te Miro Settlers Hall as one of the Upper North region winners.
“The hall itself is frequently used by the children from the adjacent Te Miro school,” she said.
“It also serves as the base for tennis, table tennis, dance, and judo clubs, as well as being hired out for community social events and initiatives, including Ag Day, quiz nights, and community forums to discuss predator trapping projects to support the long-term reintroduction of kiwi to the district.”
The 2026 Rabobank’s Good Deeds Community Hub Competition winners.
Jex-Blake said the Upper North Island Client Council was also keen to help out with the working bee.
Charteris said the Good Deeds Community Hub competition was part of the broader work the bank was doing alongside its Client Councils to grow and strengthen rural communities.
“Since establishing the Rabo Community Fund in 2021, we’ve committed more than $4 million into rural community projects, and we’re incredibly proud of the positive impact this support is delivering across rural New Zealand,” he said.
2026 Rabo Good Deeds Community Hub Competition winners
The $100,000 total prize money is drawn from the Rabo Community Fund and backed by an annual contribution from the Rabobank Group.
Upper North Island
Te Miro Settlers Hall
Raglan Surf Club
Pongakawa Community Hub
Lower North Island
Poukawa Hall
Whangamomona Public Hall
Upper South Island
Cheviot Combined Sports Complex
Hororata Community Hall
Lower South Island
Riversdale Rugby Club
Waikaka Combined Sports Club
Southern Rural Education Activities Programme (REAP) Community Hub – Winton
