[2] In another community project, Syme designed and constructed a bridge on a walkway linking the seal colony with Jimmy Armers beach in 2010, as part of a Lions Club initiative.

[7] Symes and his wife led a further fundraising campaign in 2013 to convert the cinema to digital technology, and this work was completed in November 2013.

However, the 1934 art deco façade suffered only relatively minor damage, and the digital projection equipment was undamaged and was salvaged for later re-use.

[9] Syme was involved in the major fundraising efforts to build a new cinema and performance venue on the site, retaining the façade.

[1][10][11][12] After a $3.6 million restoration project, the building was re-opened in November 2020 as the Mayfair Arts and Culture Centre Te Whare Toi ō Kaikōura.

[14] Another Kaikōura community project where Syme has had a significant leadership role is the restoration of an area of around 5 hectares (12 acres) of coastal native forest on land owned by the New Zealand Presbyterian Church on the hill adjacent to the racecourse in South Bay.