Two Christchurch businesses that played a huge part in Christchurch’s post-earthquake regeneration have teamed up to revitalise part of the city’s red zone.

A year ago Hummingbird Coffee provided more than $60,000 to environmental green space experts The Green Lab to create a leading accessible sensory nature space in Christchurch – Te Kohanga Taiao Sensory Nature Play Park – which opened in June 2024.

The joint project has brought a deserted residential playground in Burwood’s Brooker Ave back to life as a nature haven designed to encourage a deeper connection with the environment, with sustainability, accessibility and biodiversity in mind.

Beautifully nestled within restoration plantings thanks to the efforts of Avon-Ōtākaro Forest Park Trust, the new Sensory Nature Play Park also aims to serve as an educational hub for all ages and abilities.

Its design encourages children to discover nature by feeling different textures of leaves and wood, to smell a range of native plant aromas, and listen for the variety in natural sounds like tapping on wood and rustling leaves. ‘This kind of opportunity to invent play, to utilise found materials and discover interesting spaces to play are really important for our children’s sense of independence, creativity and confidence,’ says Christchurch City Council Play Advocate Louise Van Tongeren.

Children learn through all of their senses – for some that is running and climbing, and others may learn better through sensory elements. ‘When we provide spaces that allow for other kinds of exploration, including calmer play experiences, we are being much more inclusive of a wider range of needs within our community,’ says Louise.

Once a former residential area, the park is now home to multiple wētā ‘hotels’ and ‘apartments’ made at workshops held at Phillipstown Community Hub. These are warm and dry spaces where our ecologically important native wētā, bees and wasps can keep safe from predators like rats and birds.

The park has been designed to significantly increase and encourage the great biodiversity of the area. A recent ‘bioblitz’ held at the site as part of the City Nature Challenge uncovered more than 100 different species of plants, insects, spiders and fish in just a few hours.

Christchurch City Council Community Partnership and Residential Redzone Ranger Sarah Mankelow shares the importance of the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor as ‘a green spine vision that stretches from the city to the sea. The opportunity to restore and protect the river that runs through the heart of our city and plan ahead for climate change is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Hopefully the grief still attached to these lost homes will be slowly healed over the years as we heal the land and create this green legacy. Created for community by community, it is a beautiful space for all ages and abilities to picnic, play and enjoy.’

 

Brewing Social Goodness

Hummingbird Coffee has been brewing social goodness for 20 years. Its purpose is to empower people to know that they’re making a difference through their daily actions – by choosing coffee that helps deliver positive effects to local communities. Small choices can have a big impact, one cup at a time.

In 2004 Hummingbird became a champion of fair trade in New Zealand, being one of the first roasters in partnership with Trade Aid to directly import fair trade, organic, green coffee beans.

The brand continues to maintain direct relationships with coffee growers and pay a premium for these beans. Since 2005 this amounts to $10 million in premiums paid to tens of thousands of growers and their families in 10 countries.

Following the devastating 2011 earthquakes that destroyed Christchurch’s CBD, Hummingbird established a pop-up café in the Re:START container mall, helping to revitalise the inner-city block.

A new Re:START coffee blend was created, where 30 cents from every 200g pack was donated to help rebuild the badly damaged Court Theatre.

As the brand grew, it formalised its commitment to local community activities through the Green Bean Fund, a charitable enterprise that donates $1 from every $100 of green coffee beans Hummingbird buys to support a range of initiatives every year.

In 2022, Hummingbird first supported The Green Lab to establish the Mairehau Neighbourhood Garden with a $10,000 donation. Funds helped cover the labour costs of working bees, build compost containers, purchase plants, install a polytunnel and a crucial water mains tap.

The company has also donated significant funds to the Student Volunteer Army and is one of its key crisis response partners.

The Hummingbird brand continues its original founder’s ethos of creating authentic and positive social impact.

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