Helping Catlins Search and Rescue Do Their Job

Funding Stories

Funding from the Otago Community Trust helps organisations like Catlins Search and Rescue concentrate on doing their job, rather than taking up the valuable time of their volunteers to fund-raise.

The group is responsible for supporting the police in searching for missing people across a large area with rugged coastline, bush tracks where a lot of tourists and school groups pass through. It’s a big job, but all 120 members involved in search and rescue in the Catlins are volunteers, whether they are searching, or involved in administrative or communication roles.

The Catlins Search and Rescue now have a training and storage area to call home in Owaka, formerly the rugby club facilities, thanks to a donation from the Otago Community Trust.

Spokesperson Lois Harrison said the donation towards equipment and facilities made a big difference to their fundraising efforts.