The youth of Central Lakes will be all the better for a series of grants the trust has dished out over the month of November.

“While many will benefit from November’s grants, the youth feature strongly in this month’s funding,” says Trust Chief Executive Susan Finlay.

“It has been a large granting month with two meetings and over $1.82m funded, of which 53% goes directly into the youth of our community,” she says, going on to explain, “strategically for Central Lakes Trust (CLT) youth are an important aspect in our granting. The demands on youth have changed with the high cost of living in our community changing the dynamics of family life, often with both parents working, families moving to the area whom speak little English, the demands from social media, and changing educational expectations, all puts different pressures on the youth of today.”

Five of the 20 youth focused grants go to a CLT initiative in secondary schools. The initiative being a programme which has been running since 2006 to help build resilience, address mental health concerns, and encourage engagement of youth in our communities and in school, as well as the recognition of cultural diversity in the youth space. These programmes will continue for a further three years with the support of the trust.

Other youth grants include an on-going grant to support the delivery of the Sticks 'n Stones (anti-bullying programme) for 8 to 18 year olds. A grant towards running the Wakatipu Mindplus programme for gifted children and Challenge Wanaka get support for their youth triathlon.

In addition early in November the board granted $77,550 to Ronald McDonald House South Island for bed nights for Central Lakes children and their families who require medical care outside of our region in Christchurch and Invercargill. In addition, this year Ronald McDonald House New Zealand receives funding to extend those bed nights to their North Island locations.

Mandy Kennedy, CEO of the South Island branch reiterates, “CLT funding means that we can take care of many, many families from the Central Lakes region when they have a child undergoing medical treatment. We are very grateful for the support we receive from CLT, because it really does make a difference,” she says.

The Sport Otago swim school programme will again be made possible by the support of the Trust and other partners. This programme sees primary school children throughout the Central Lakes Trust region receive 10 swimming lessons annually, the aim is to improve each child’s confidence and ability to survive in the water,” says Sports Central regional coordinator, Bill Godsall.

For the first time Camp Quality South will also receive funding towards running a summer camp for those children from our region living with cancer. Over the summer they will provide a fun filled week for these children and respite for their full time caregivers.

Boys Brigade receive funding towards running their programme for boys in the Dunstan basin and the roll-out of the programme to Cromwell, Wanaka and Hawea. The programme provides positive male role models and mentors for boys to learn practical life skills and values.

Other grants include the Central Otago Budgeting Services in consultation with other social service agencies, have proposed a new pilot project for the introduction of a Housing Co-ordinator in the Central Otago region. This will be supported with funding by CLT and would be available to all residents of the CODC catchment area who are struggling to obtain affordable secure tenure accommodation in a housing market stressed by rapid population growth and lack of suitable housing supply.

Wakatipu and Wanaka pre-schoolers will be delighted with assistance for new toys and a library relocation for Wakatipu out of the city centre to the more central location of Ladies Mile.

The final meeting for the calendar year and the last for our four trustees mandated to retire was held on 25 November 2019. Total grants approved stands at $107m since inception. The next board meeting will be held in early February 2020.

Total grants approved by the Board of Central Lakes Trust for the financial year is $8.8 million of the $9.1 million grants budget.