Nor'West News: March 24, 2022

6
Gym club on the hunt for new
premises with high ceiling
• By Fiona Ellis
LOW CEILINGS may be the
biggest challenge for young
gymnasts aiming to compete at
a national level.
THe Bishopdale-based Delta
Rhythmic Gymnastics club is
struggling to find a training
venue with a ceiling height of at
least 10ms.
THe sport involves throwing
hoops, ribbons and clubs high in
the air, carrying out movements
while the objects are airborne
and then catching them again as
part of a choreographed routine.
President Jo Walker said the
club had been hopping from
venue to venue since the
earthquake over a decade ago.
“It’s really hard, we’re just so
desperate now. We don’t really
know quite what to do,” Walker
said.
THe former New Zealand
Institute of Sport building on
Riccarton Rd had been a good
fit but was no longer an option.
“THat was bowled down at
the end of last year. That was
the only place we had that had a
really high ceiling.
“It was old but it was the
perfect height. That was bowled
over for housing, which is
completely devastating.”
THe club trained about 135
young gymnasts, about 52 of
whom were eligible to try out
ROUTINE: Delta Rhythmic Gymnastics Cub’s Jennifer
Trieu. of Redwood.
PHOTO: WINKIPOP MEDIA ​
for nationals, she said.
“THat means that they’re
senior kids, which means that
they need to throw high.”
THe club now operated
from Breens Intermediate
School, Fendalton Community
Centre, Middleton Grange
School, and Rolleston
Community Centre.
“None of these places have got
a ceiling that’s high enough for
our senior girls.
“We’ve asked the council and
it can’t give us anything.”
A warehouse, hanger or barn
would serve the purpose, she
said.
THe club members had been
gearing up to work from a
warehouse, but the arrangement
fell through, leaving them once
again searching for a venue.
This caused the training regime
to be pared back.
In spite of the club’s size and
success in its field, she believed
it was not prioritised in the way
sports such as basketball were.
“It’s like the whole sport has
been forgotten, it’s like nobody
cares.”
However, she thought a good
location must exist somewhere
nearby and she remained
hopeful it would be found.
MORE THAN 250 people have
tied purple ribbons to a worry
wall as part of a public art
installation on Papanui Rd.
Priest Megan Herles-Mooar
said the All Souls Anglican
Church short-term installation
could help people deal with current
worries.
“We wanted to offer something
tactile that helps people
acknowledge and perhaps lessen
their worries about Omicron, the
war in Ukraine, and anything
else that is troubling them at
present,” Herles-Mooar said.
The wall is a series of
temporary wire fences on
which people can tie a length
of purple ribbon, which are
provided free.
Pedestrians were stopping to
find out what the bright purple
installation was all about, she
said.
Thursday March 24 2022
WORRY
WALL: An art
installation
at Papanui’s
All Souls
Anglican
Church is
a way for
people to
offload some
of their
concerns. ​
Church’s worry wall
proving popular
“Not only can people take a
moment or two to offload their
cares but every day I and others
from the church pray for our
community and the world and
for peace – both global and
personal.
“The installation is showing
that all people, regardless of
faith, have a desperate desire for
peace and as such the wall is a
place to hopefully find that.”
“It’s amazing how the concept
attracts people’s attention and
appears to have struck a chord,”
she says.
The colour purple was chosen
for the ribbons because of
the association with Lent, the
reflective period in the church
calendar in the lead up to Easter,
the most important celebration
in the Christian calendar.
The wall installation is open to
the public until April 18.
TOYS
7 MODELS
$
$ 49. 95
INC GST
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
14. 95
INC GSTwww.rstradecentre.co.nz
FREE CHRISTCHURCH DELIVERY
0800 99 99 76
LOCATIONS:
484 Papanui Road, Papanui
68 Montreal Street, Sydenham
HOURS:
Monday - Friday 7.00am - 5.00pm