NORTH CANTERBURY SPORT & RECREATION TRUST RECEIVES $140,000 IN SOUTHERN TRUST FUNDING THIS YEAR

Children throughout North Canterbury can learn about new sports and receive coaching, thanks to continued funding from The Southern Trust.

The North Canterbury Sport and Recreation Trust has just received a $75,000 grant from The Southern Trust to assist with wages for its seven primary school sports coaches.

The grant follows an earlier one for $65,000 made in March this year, also to assist with wages for sports coaches. Since 2012 The Southern Trust has provided $415,000 to contribute to the running of this vital community resource.  

North Canterbury Sport and Recreation Trust Operations Manager, Rosie Oliver says since the Trust started running programmes in 2008 demand has skyrocketed. Now it runs Primary Schools Sports Coaching programmes for 7,000 pupils annually. “We are grateful to funders such as The Southern Trust, which help us reach so many children in North Canterbury to build their confidence and health.”

The Southern Trust CEO and Trustee Karen Shea said “We are pleased that our partnerships with venues across New Zealand including Rangiora’s Plough Hotel and Brook Bar mean we have funds to assist valuable community organisations such as The North Canterbury Sport and Recreation Trust.”

Community organisations throughout the New Zealand can apply for funding from The Southern Trust. The 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. Ms Shea says for community organisations 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.”

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 provides funding for amateur sport, education, community purposes, welfare organisations and arts and culture.

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.