Maungaraki Playcentre

Nestled in Lower Hutt’s western hills is Maungaraki Playcentre. We are a parent-run early childhood education centre, licensed by the Ministry of Education, and adhering to the Te Whāriki curriculum. We are applying for a flooring solution to refurbish a common space that we call our mat area. It is a high traffic area that is used for many different activities, and it is the only area in our centre that has
any type of carpet.

Currently we have two carpet mats that are approximately six years old. The mats are not fit for purpose as they are much smaller than the space. A burst pipe in March 2019 caused extensive flooding throughout our centre and was the final straw for the underfloor heating system we had, so the large gaps of exposed lino flooring can get very cold.

We want to replace the carpet mats with a more appropriate flooring option. Warm, comfortable, quality carpet that fits the entire space would be ideal. Having the entire space carpeted would mean there would be additional covered space for our tamariki to sit, play and enjoy.

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The new carpet is so great! Everybody is really enjoying it and saying how nice and plush it is. It was so nice to come in from the cold outside and the area be so warm and inviting. It is such a nice space to be in again, it looks and feels amazing! Thank you so much again for your help to get this project completed for us.

Emily Burns, Maungaraki Playcentre Director

It was a really positive and humbling experience to be involved with the RhinoKids project as a new Branch Manager. I met Emily and the team in Maungaraki Playcentre pretty early on after I had joined the Carpet Court family. Getting to go to a centre that relies totally on donations and minimal funding, it was amazing to see the smiles and excitement buzz around the room as I confirmed we could and would definitely love to re-carpet their toddlers area and feeding room. It was so apparent that the current carpet in the centre was well past its use by date and had seen its fair share of spills and thrills.

I recalled the early days of taking my own 8mo daughter to her kindy and sitting on the floor with her new friends, watching them all learn to crawl, fall and tumble around. I knew that the team in-store had chosen wisely and we were going to be able to make a huge difference to this centre. Being able to give back to a small but vital centre in its own community was an amazing feeling and I know it was very graciously received by all of the little ones that are now rolling around on what feels like cloud 9.

Ciaran, Carpet Court Lower Hutt Branch Manager

Before

After