Three and a half thousand dollars was raised from this year’s Centralines Swim-4-Lives Swimathon.
The event was held at the Centralines Sports Complex last Friday night.
Charles Nairn said all up, swimmers swum a total of just over 11 kilometres, with one person swimming 25 lengths.
All money raised goes towards local schools participation in the deep water swimming programme to grow their knowledge, confidence and abilities in and around deep water.
With this year’s tally, nearly $70,000 has been raised over the past few years from the Swim-a-thon.
Meanwhile the AMP Wai Splash Pool in Dannevirke recently received a $3400 donation from the Heald family of Norsewood.
The Heald family recently opened up their sunflower fields over two weekends.
The donation will go towards water safety education opportunities for local children.
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An initiative aiming to bring the Hawke’s Bay community together is being held next week.
“Hawke’s Bay Together in Black and White” will be held next Thursday, the 6th of April, for the community to show solidarity with everyone in Hawke’s Bay as it recovers from the devastating effects of Cyclone Gabrielle by busting out the black and white - the official colours of the region.
Initiated by Hawke’s Bay residents Sophie McHardy and Codee Wilkins, all of the region’s councils, schools, sports, and business organisations are working together to spread the message of togetherness, solidarity and support for Hawke’s Bay.
Sophie said that she felt the swell of camaraderie in her community and wanted to find a way for everyone to come together and show solidarity with others in the region as the journey to recovery unfolds.
She said there are plenty of ways that people can get on board, from black and white mufti days, to decorating shop fronts, tying ribbons around letterboxes, or simply wearing black and white to work for the day.
Funds raised from the day will go towards cyclone relief.
People can also donate to Hawke’s Bay Relief Fund Trust by texting GIVE to 2923 to make an instant $3 donation.
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State Highway 5 – the Napier Taupo Road has reopened to night time traffic.
The highway reopened to 24/7 traffic yesterday after previously only being open from 7am to 7pm following damage from Cyclone Gabrielle.
Waka Kotahi says roadworkers did an amazing job over the weekend completing work required to make the road safe for travel at night, including road marking and placing edge marker posts.
The agency says the road is only safe to drive at the posted speeds, as it is still in a cyclone-damaged state, with hazards, defects in the road, and debris on shoulders.