A trust established to support sport and recreation in the Upper Clutha is winding up with the trustees saying it's been “a job well done”.

The Upper Clutha Sports Community Trust (UCSCT) is best known for establishing the annual Festival of Sport and Recreation and a Junior Development Programme for budding athletes.

“As a group of trustees we met to discuss our strategic direction and as a result of that we asked ourselves ‘if we weren’t here who would miss out?’,” UCSCT secretary Diana Schikker said.

“From that came the realisation that much of what we had set out to do was now being met by other groups.” 

Diana said that when the trust was established in 2013 there was a gap in the market for sports advocacy and promotion however that had improved markedly since Sport Central was established in the Upper Clutha.

“We always said that if Sport Central came into town we wouldn’t need to be here anymore,” she said.

“There’s also QLDC, Kahu Youth, LINK, MINT!, and Volunteer South, all now active in this space.”

The trust is hopeful that two of its standout projects, the Festival of Sport & Recreation and the Junior Development Programme, will be continued by other agencies.

“We’re not just walking out the door, we think those two things add real value to the community and so they’re the things that we are trying to make sure are carried on by others,” Diana said.

A function will be held at the Wānaka Community Hub on Monday (December 19) from 5.30pm to 7.00pm to celebrate and acknowledge all those who have helped and contributed along the way.

RSVPs and enquiries to Diana Schikker at [email protected].

PHOTO: Supplied