Labour of Love: Facilities Gifted to the Community

The gifting of the Levin Adventure Park facilities to the people of the town was formally recognised at an event to coincide with Families Day 2008 last month.

The official handover took place on 15 May 2008 with a morning tea and special presentation to Collis and Helen Blake whose vision it was to create an adventure park on a neglected corner of the town.

The Blakes’ work began in 2000 when they approached the Crown to lease the former site of Levin Central School which had become an unofficial dumping ground.

The couple secured a 20-year Crown lease on the land and set about cleaning the place up and building flying foxes and other amusements. Over the years they have added toilet and kitchen facilities.

“It used to be a rubbish dump and we decided we could do something about it,” Mr Blake said. We sold the idea to all sections of the community and with the help of lots of people, including the Council, we built it.”

Mr Blake said the park was largely his wife and daughter’s vision.  Access to the park is unrestricted and everything is free.

After seven years the Blakes decided it was time to hand their work over to the community. The Levin Adventure Park Trust has been established to manage the day-to-day running of the park, with seven trustees appointed.

The Crown owns the land, the Blakes still hold the lease, and the new trust now owns all of the facilities on the land.  Trust chair Pam Good said the park was a major asset to the community.

“Collis and Helen Blake have created a fantastic park, through investing huge amounts of their own time and money, and then they have gifted this to our community. It is a remarkable achievement,” Mrs Good said.

Photo: Collis and Helen Blake hand over the adventure park facilities to the people of Levin.