Korean culture was to the fore when the Korean School held a fun day at Kirkwood Intermediate School, Riccarton Rd, on Saturday 29 September. The school holds its weekly classes at Kirkwood on a Saturday.

Seven years of building community in the Riccarton area were celebrated at the end of September by the Oak Development Trust. Starting with just one paid employee – Manager Carol Renouf – the trust now has six staff, and is active through around 12 programmes.

Global Christmas is an informative and an educative community project that is being initiated by the Philippine Culture and Migrants Services (PCMS) team. It aims to promote and encourage the diverse Christchurch migrant communities to showcase their traditional cultural Christmas practices in terms of songs, dances, costumes, food, decors, artefacts and festival activities.

A new programme for seniors and the return of what is becoming a favourite for men are set to light up Riccarton kitchens.

“Research shows that as we age, we become less likely to prepare our own meals,” says Jane Callahan of Pegasus Health. If you struggle with cooking or have lost motivation to cook, Senior Chef, organised by Pegasus Health, could be the answer.

Senior Chef consists of 8 x three-hour sessions. The free classes cover nutrition topics such as eating for healthy ageing, menu planning, and budgeting. As well you get to cook a meal and sit down together to enjoy it.

Senior Chef will be held at Riccarton Baptist Church, 80 Rattray Street, on Mondays from October 15 to December 10. Contact the Senior Chef team on 374 1639 for a chat to see if Senior Chef is right for you. You must be enrolled to attend a course.

And a new Men2Cook course will start at Riccarton Baptist on 13 September. The course, instructed by chef Paul Meek, runs for six weeks, with the aim of helping men learn to cook tasty, hearty and healthy meals on a budget.

Participants have been highly enthusiastic at what they've learned. As one of the participants, Larry, said: “I now have confidence in cooking. My wife is rapt I can do it.”

For more information, or to register, contact Paul on 027 488 069, or Carol Renouf on 027 282 0693.

Two more Riccarton locations have been added to the "Give Gear Get Great" initiative, which recycles outgrown, used or unused sports equipment back to those who need it.

By Emma Turton, NZ Broadcasting School

After a couple of conversations and perfect timing, Ania Szurpicka and Nicki Aitken had a kids programme up and running.

The 'Wonderful Me' programme was funded by the Waipuna-Riccarton-Halswell-Hornby community board through the University of Canterburys' 'Christchurch 101' course.

The UC course had students locate a community group that needed funding and pitch it to the local community board. Out of the six ideas pitched, 'Wonderful Me' was one of three winning projects. Each project was allocated $500.