SPECIAL COMMUNITY FUNDING ROUND OPEN FOR SOUTH WAIKATO COMMUNITY GROUPS

South Waikato community groups are invited to apply for funding grants from The Southern Trust.

The Trust has opened a special funding round for community groups around Putaruru and South Waikato.  Non-profit community, education, arts and culture or amateur sport organisations active in the area are able to apply for the funding.

One of the country’s top gaming trusts, The Southern Trust, is licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs under the Gambling Act 2003 to return gaming machine proceeds to the community. The Trust funds amateur sport, education, community, welfare organisations and arts and culture.

Announcing the South Waikato funding round, The Southern Trust CEO and Trustee Karen Shea said

“We are pleased that our partnership with the Putaruru Hotel means that we have funds to assist community organisations in the South Waikato area.”

The activities eligible to apply for funding are stated in the Gambling Act 2003 and may include; travel, sports playing uniforms, grounds maintenance, equipment, coaching and trophies, support for non-profit museums and art galleries, amateur Maori cultural groups; non-profit community cultural or arts festivals. In some cases wages and salaries may be eligible for funding depending on the circumstances.  All the required information is contained in the Trust’s Grants Policy http://www.southerntrust.org.nz/index.php?policies. 

Ms Shea says if community organisations are considering applying, the first step is to call The Southern Trust funding team on 0800 4 CHARITY (0800 42 42 74). “Our team can easily advise on application criteria, which can save organisations a lot of time.”

Organisations from South Waikato are encouraged to apply for funding by the end of September 2017. The Southern Trust continually reviews applications with most processed within 20 working days. Requests larger than $30,000 are reviewed at the monthly Board of Trustees meetings.

ENDS.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Established in January 1998, The Southern Trust is licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs under the Gambling Act 2003 to return gaming machine proceeds to the community. It is one of many gaming trusts across the country, which are required by legislation to return a minimum of 63% to the community. This social dividend comes via a direct community distribution of 40% of funds raised and 23% in gaming duty. In the year ended 1 January 2017 The Southern Trust contributed $11.414 million to organisations across New Zealand. The Southern Trust focus is funding education, community welfare organisations, amateur sport and arts and culture.