Knitting for the good of her community

Marie Rhodes has spent countless evenings knitting since she was child. During her retirement, she and fellow knitters sold goods with all proceeds supporting quality healthcare for Akaroa.

The 74-year-old started selling knitted wares at street markets in 2017 as part of a broader mission of fundraising for the Akaroa Health Centre.

"I feel passionately about Akaroa and Banks Peninsula, and we need to have a really good health system.

"I mean, I’m getting closer to needing the old people’s home myself,” said Marie.

She is part of the Guardians of Akaroa Health, which was was formed in 1991 by volunteers committed to improving services at the Akaroa Hospital.

After the building was demolished due to earthquake damage, the guardians started supporting the replacement health centre which opened in 2019.

Marie’s sales have raised more than $70,000 for the centre since 2017.

The funds have been used for art classes, to buy a wheelchair van, televisions, bed tables and low-rise beds, all with the goal of improving quality of life for the centre’s long-term elderly residents.

Marie believes supporting the retirement and health facilities at the centre is a key way to keep families and young people in Akaroa.

“It’s important to keep the community alive, so we can keep our young people here. We need young people to give the town its vitality.”

Since early last year, Marie has sold the knitted goods from a small shop opposite Pot Pourri on Rue Lavaud.

A team of about 20 volunteers helps her run the shop and knit the goods.

"Some people send in their knitting.

"They’re from many places in New Zealand.

"They’ve had good experiences with the health centre or their family has, so they see it as a good cause."

Marie said she could not operate the knitting shop without the efforts of others.

"We’ve got quite a few elderly people who don’t get out much, have got limited mobility, but they can still knit and crochet.”

Her favourite items to craft are blankets and children’s clothes.

“I do enjoy knitting very much. I like playing with the yarn and the colours, the creativity of it. And it’s relaxing."

The shop runs on yarn donated from the community.

"People who can’t knit and crochet give us yarn, or volunteer down at the shop which is very helpful."

The hardworking resident expects the knitting operation to run for many years to come.

“The health centre is absolutely wonderful but there’s always things that they need. These things can potentially cost thousands, so we do have to keep fundraising to help make people’s lives more comfortable.”

She is always looking for more volunteers to help run the shop or knit.

Interested people can visit the shop during opening hours on Saturdays from 10am to 3pm.

Marie was a recognised for her work during the last city council community service awards in 2021.