Western Bay of Plenty residents wanting to rid their backyards of rusty, old metal items can do so this Sunday – and support a Te Puna community project at the same time.

Te Puna Rugby Sports and Cultural Club (TPRSCC) is hosting a Metal Muster on October 11 to fundraise to help get its clubroom rebuild project off the ground.

In March the club announced it would build new clubrooms on the same site as the current facility, which was built in 1971.

To serve the club’s 400 members who compete in rugby, netball, softball, cricket and kapa haka, the new clubrooms would be twice the size of the current facility, with greater capacity for functions.

The club’s building committee was formed in 2024 and had designed plans for the build – but it needs to raise $300,000 for plan, council consent applications and permit-related costs.

The build was estimated to cost a total of $5 million.

Bowden said Sunday’s Metal Muster Fundraiser invited people to drop their unwanted metal items at three locations in Te Puna – Maramatanga Park, Te Puna Farmlands carpark and the Landmax depot on Plummers Point Rd.

“Skip bins will be in place early in the day at three pick-up points in the district,” Bowden said.

“All scrap metal is acceptable, with non-ferrous items – made of brass, aluminium or copper – being most appreciated. Whiteware, car batteries, broken bikes, or leftover bits of old engines are also fine.”

Bowden said teams will be stationed at each collection point to help offload any kind of scrap metal and sort it.

“People can also arrange for larger items to be picked up. To do so, contact Andrew George 021 2226270 and James Vincent 027 3197115.”

Club helpers would transport the donations to recycling firm Metalco in Mount Maunganui.

“All proceeds [reaped from the metal donated] will go to the TPRSCC’s building fund, currently standing at $100,000,” Bowden said.

With $300,000 needed to get the building plans, professional reports and final sign-off from Western Bay of Plenty Council for the building consent, Bowden encouraged the community to follow the Te Puna Rugby Sports and Cultural Club Facebook page for future fundraisers.

Bowden said once $300,000 was raised, grants would be sought to fund the multimillion-dollar project.