In the small hours of Wednesday 24 January the new chapel was welcomed to SMC with an emotional karanga and powhiri as it entered the grounds of its new home before being blessed by Bishop Victoria.

The Chapel will be used as a small and intimate place of reflection and contemplation for both students and staff, as well as hosting weddings, christenings and funerals for Old Girls and the local community. It also fulfils a decade-long dream of departing principal, Gillian Simpson, to have a small chapel back on the grounds of St Margaret's.

18 years ago the Satterthwaite family in North Canterbury bought St Mark's Church, Rotherham to save it from demolition. The couple had got married in it and wanted to save a piece of history of their area and own a little piece of the past. They moved it to their farm where it sat, occasionally hosting weddings for many years.

Now, nearly two decades later, St Mark's has travelled from their farm in the Waiau Valley to SMC to become Te Whare Hauora (The House of Wellbeing) for the students and surrounding community. The Satterthwaites have strong connections with St Margaret's. Every female member of the family attended the school for the past 90 years. With the school losing 85% of its buildings in the earthquakes, they wanted future generations of St Margaret's students to have a little piece of history on their campus.

Now the chapel is on site, we have the goal of completing the extensive restoration work takes place so that it can be consecrated before Gillian departs at the end of Term 2. Fundraising is well and truly underway with $180,000 required to complete the work. For further information, click here.