Putting Leisure in People’s Lives

Images courtesy of CLM.

Putting leisure in people’s lives, and life in people’s leisure

James Croll discovers how New Zealand’s CLM has built a business that has achieved far reaching results in furthering community engagement while also developing some inspirational leaders

In 1995, Joe Griffi n and John La mer, two veterans of New Zealand’s leisure industry found themselves discussing opportuni es in the sector and how the industry could be be ered and bring communi es together across the country. Prior to the mid 1990s, La mer had enjoyed a wide range of experience in community recrea on gained from working inside local government and in the private sector. He had also contributed to the governance of numerous na onal and community organisa ons.

Griffi n had a broad range of experience in community recrea on from working ini ally in hotel management and the restaurant business, before managing and overseeing a number of recrea on and aqua c centres. He had also been responsible for community facili es in Upper Hu and then Auckland City Council.

The result was the forma on of Community Leisure Management (CLM) which, more than 25 years on is the country’s leading contractor in community facility and programme management, opera ng recrea on centres, swimming pools and fi tness centres throughout New Zealand.

While CLM is widely known for its facility management exper se, at venues including Whangārei Aqua c Centre, Richmond Aqua c Centre and Auckland’s Lido Aqua c Centre, it also aims to enrich the lives of the communi es in which it works delivering services and programmes that truly make a diff erence.

One aspect of the business is its CLM Community Sport division, a signifi cant delivery partner for The Auckland Approach to Community Sport ini a ve in Coun es Manukau (alongside Harbour Sport, Sport Waitākere and Sport Auckland) across the wider Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland area. Together they focus on promo ng be er lives and futures for individuals and communi es using sport and recrea on as a vehicle by having a solu on-focused, innova ve, and empathe c approach which is responsive to the region.

Another impressive aspect of the CLM por olio of services is Ac ve Youth. Working with Ak ve - - Auckland Sport & Recrea on, Auckland Council, and CLM Community Sport the division has delivered a free 12-week Wellness Programme designed for rangatahi (youth) across the Auckland area.

The aim of the programme is to encourage youth (aged between 14 -18) to increase their ac vity levels, and to educate them about the importance of physical ac vity and a healthy lifestyle. Seven facili es across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland have adopted the programme which is designed to achieve a number of outcomes such as increased fi tness levels and increased hours of physical ac vity.

However, CLM’s Aroora kaupapa which has really been making headlines over the past few months. Created by Sco Linklater of Ngāpuhi and Te Roroa descent, a former Māori All Black and Facility Manager for CLM, this kaupapa (principal) and the programmes that fall under its umbrella draw on Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) to focus on suppor ng Māori both inside and outside of the organisa on.

There are currently three programmes which sit within the Aroora kaupapa, one geared towards developing Māori Leadership within CLM, the second suppor ng rangatahi to gain employment in the sport and recrea on industry, and a third to support the hauora (the Māori view of health) and resilience of rangatahi.

Each programme runs for the dura on of the year and builds on the Aroora framework whilst anchoring itself around a local whakatauki (Māori wisdom), or proverbial saying.

The fi rst programme ‘Kāhu kōrako’, supported by Te Puni Kōkiri (New Zealand Ministry of Māori Development), is designed to strengthen Māori leadership and cultural competency across the CLM network. It is inspired by the whakatauki (a message embody knowledge and values) ‘Me haere i raro i te kāhu korako, kia kai ai koe i te kai, kia whiwhi i te taonga’, using the metaphor of a white hawk to inspire and encourage Māori to assume leadership roles within the organisa on.

It is a year-long programme run over a series of wānanga across Aotearoa New Zealand.

The second programme ‘Tenei toku whare,’ also supported by Te Puni Kōkiri, is designed to strengthen cultural iden ty and hauora of rangatahi through the explora on of kanga (behaviours) and pūrākau (Māori legends) within the cultural landscape of Te Tai Tokerau Northland. The name of the programme is inspired by the Ngāpuhi whakatauki ‘Te whare tapu o Ngāpuhi’, which describes the rohe (tribal area) of Ngāpuhi as a sacred house. The programme is delivered in a series of wānanga that explore this house and the Aroora (management prac se) framework.

Finally, the ‘He tāhuna tau atu’ programme supported by Founda on North, is a leadership and skill acquisi on programme with the inten on of helping rangatahi becoming more employable in the sport and recrea on industry. The name of the programme is inspired by another well known local whakatauki whose last line read ‘He kūaka mārangaranga, kotahi te manu i tau ki te tāhuna, tau atu, tau atu, tau atu’. In this saying the Kūaka or godwit is likened to a leader and where one will land others will follow.

The Aroora team, lead by Linklater and supported by Jamille Ruka, Harley Iraia and Jordana Naera, are all passionate about working within their communi es and really live by CLM’s mission statement ‘Ka āwhina mai, ka āwhina atu, ngā mahi a te rēhia’ (‘pu ng leisure in people’s lives, and life in people’s leisure’).

James Croll is Partnerships Manager at Australasian Leisure Management.