HISTORY

Risingholme was built in 1864 by William and Mary Reeves, parents of politician William Pember Reeves.  After the death of  William Reeves in 1891, the house had several further private owners until 1943 when it was purchased and presented to the City of Christchurch by J. R. McKenzie for the "health, amusement and instruction of the public".

After a public meeting in St Mark's Schoolroom, Opawa, on 24 February 1944, the Risingholme Community Centre Incorporated Society was formed.  Dr  H. E. Hansen, the chairman of the committee set up at this historic meeting, had been a leader in adult education for many years, and under his guidance the committee established its first activities - a nursery play centre, a room for the Plunket Society, drama, play reading and study/discussion groups.

Within 6 months the first director - W. Ross Edwards - was appointed and by July 1945 an energetic programme was in place including a Young People's Club, woodwork classes and bridge and garden groups.

By 1946 the Committee had decided to build a hall so that the centre could accommodate more activities and so began a succession of fairs, fetes and other fundraising activities that finally led to the construction of the hall/theatre and later the craft rooms at the back of the park.

1947 saw both the completion of the hall and the arrival of Dorothy Crumpton as new director and these two factors led to an increased level of activity at Risingholme.  Drama was a focus, two choirs were started, films were shown and classes which had begun under the auspices of both the Christchurch Technical College and the WEA expanded.

By 1954 the craft rooms were completed to accommodate the growing number of craft classes such as woodwork and pottery - it was also sadly the year that Dorothy died after a period of declining health.

It was then that Jeanne Edgar became director and this began a long and stable period for the Centre as Jeanne maintained and gradually built on the activities already in place until her retirement in 1983.

Jeanne Edgar was succeeded by Raewyn Cooke who brought many positive changes to the way Risingholme operates.  Through the energy and vision of Raewyn, the Centre became independent in 2004.

In April 2007, Raewyn Cooke was succeeded by Maryke Fordyce as director. 

The community education programme has continued to flourish, now incorporating the Burnside High School and Christchurch Girls' High School as well as the Riccarton High School Adult & Community Education programmes.  Risingholme is also host to a large variety of independent  community groups and activities.

Development of Adult and Community Education Classes at Risingholme

• Risingholme donated to ChCh by JR McKenzie 1943
• Committee of local people formed to approach CCC to use property as a community centre
• One of those people was Dr Hansen, Principal of ChCh Technical College
• First activities started Mar 1944, first full-time director appointed Nov 1944 via special ministerial funding from Ministry of Education
• 1945 first continuing education class (Dressmaking) held under control of ChCh Technical College
• By 1951, 16 classes were being funded via ChCh Technical College
• 1966 administration of Risingholme’s continuing education classes transferred from ChCh Technical College to Hagley High School
• Do not have exact dates, but some time around the 1980’s the only part of Risingholme’s funding that was still administered by Hagley was the director’s salary. All funding for tutors and support staffing was paid directly to Risingholme from the Ministry of Education
• 2003 – 2004 saw the establishment of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), who took responsibility for all tertiary education funding, including Risingholme
• In 2004 Risingholme made the decision to become an independent tertiary provider, accordingly all funding and administrative links were severed with Hagley Community College
• 2005 saw Risingholme operating as an OTEP (Other Tertiary Education Provider) receiving all funding directly from the TEC and sub-contracting from Feb 2005 to manage Burnside High Schools’ ACE Programme
• By June 2005 Risingholme was also sub-contracted to manage the ChCh Girls’ High school ACE Programme
• In 2007, Risingholme was sub-contracted by Riccarton High School to manage its ACE programme.