June Donations

• 23-Jun-09

Otago Community Trust announces June donations

The Otago Community Trust has donated $756,000 in its annual sporting donations round this year, with 24 Otago sporting organisations benefitting.

The largest recipient is Sport Otago, which receives $172,500 in total.  Sport Waitaki, Sport Central and Sport Clutha each receive $20,000, a further $100,000 goes to Sport Otago’s CoachForce programme, and $12,500 will assist Sport Otago to deliver the Halberg programme to help people with disabilities to participate in sport. 

Sport Otago Chief Executive John Brimble said the funding is essential for his organisation to be able to provide these grass root services. “We would struggle to provide these programmes to Otago sport without the dedicated support of the Trust.”

Other major beneficiaries from this year’s sports funding included Basketball Otago (60,000), Netball Otago ($55,000), the Otago Cricket Association ($55,000), Soccersouth ($50,000) and the NZ Academy of Sport South Island ($30,000).

June donations distributed by the Otago Community Trust to 43 organisations throughout Otago, including the annual sporting grants, totalled $890,789, said CEO Mr Keith Ellwood.

The Trust continued its support for training programmes for organisations in the not-for-profit sector, delivered by the Otago Chamber of Commerce by way of a $40,000 donation.

The St Matthews Anglican Church in Stafford St, Dunedin, received $30,000 towards its hall upgrading project.

Other larger donations included the Royal New Zealand Ballet ($20,000), the Otago Polytechnic ($7,800), the Otago Multiple Sclerosis Society ($7,500), and the NZ Special Olympics South Island Regional Council ($5,000).

Sport Otago

$60,000 of the Otago Community Trust donation will provide funding to the three regional offices, which provide delivery, advocacy, support and development to sports in the community, to ensure true regional coverage.

The Coachforce programme aims funding directly into grass roots sport, training coaches in target sports to improve their capability, and to then pass skills into their respective codes. This has proved a very effective way of building skills where it’s needed most, from junior through to senior level. Athletics, hockey, and for the first time, golf, are taking part in the Coachforce programme this year. 

Otago is leading the country in assisting people with disabilities into mainstream sport through its Halberg Trust programme, dedicated to including the disabled in school sport and across sporting codes. Funding is also used to purchase adaptive outdoor equipment, including kayaks and climbing gear, allowing the disabled to take part in sports others would take for granted. “It’s a worthwhile programme that’s making a huge difference to the people taking part,” Mr Brimble said.

Otago Chamber of Commerce

The $40,000 grant to the Otago Chamber of Commerce will allow it to conduct a series of workshops to help community groups be more effective.

The courses over the year offer information on practical governance issues, strategic planning and financial skills, all aimed at building internal capability and producing good organisations. This funding allows the Chamber to provide this training at no cost, which it has found is a very good way of encouraging sporting and community groups to take part.

St Matthews Church

The Otago Community Trust funding of $30,000 is very welcome as it seeks to fit-out the new kitchen facility in its renovated Church hall. The major rebuilding project has seen inadequate kitchen and toilets upgraded, and small and large meeting spaces created. 

Spokesman David Yates said that will not only benefit the St Matthews parish, but also the community groups that use the hall. “It will be wonderful to have such a well-appointed facility; we’re hoping that having a better-equipped hall and meeting space will encourage more community groups in the area to use the resource. ”

Other Donations