Arthritis Foundation of New Zealand (Inc)

Arthritis is one of the leading causes of disability in New Zealand and Arthritis New Zealand is the only charity with the aim of improving the lives of people affected by arthritis. For those in the Queenstown-Lakes area, their Dunedin-based Arthritis Educator provides this support through quarterly visits to Queenstown, as part of a trip to the wider Queenstown-Lakes and Central Otago regions. While in Queenstown, the Arthritis Educator offers group clinics and self-management workshops to enable people to become more knowledgeable about their condition and better equipped with strategies to enable them to lead as full a life as possible. Funding will contribute towards arthritis information services in Queenstown and Wanaka.

$2,500.00

Central Otago Sports Turf Trust Central Otago Sports Turf Trust in Cromwell serves the district with its only full size hockey field. SKYCITY Queenstown Casino Community Trust will contribute funding towards the upgrade of the existing sand-based sports turf there and for an amenities building and a small warm up turf area. Subject to funding the timing for the upgrade is to begin at the end of this years’ hockey season and complete by March 2016 ready for the 2016 season.

$3,500.00

Downtown Queenstown Downtown Queenstown is the organisation focussed on improving the Queenstown CBD. It is primarily financed by members who are made up of businesses operating in the Queenstown area. Destination Queenstown and the Winter Festival have donated lights but there is no funding for upkeep and to install the lights and remove them as required. The Trust has contributed to funding to ensure tree lights can remain and help provide some ambience in the CBD.

$1,448.00

Families First Trust t/a Queenstown Lakes Family Centre

The Queenstown Lakes Family Centre (QLFC) is in the second year of its Pilot programme Pregnancy in Youth, a Health Promotion and Specialised Screening Programme designed to complement current maternal health services by supporting mental wellbeing. It is delivering evidence-based assessment, prevention and early intervention services for children and their families. Funding will provide ongoing support of the programme.

$3,500.00

Happiness House Happiness House is a community-based non-profit organisation which provides services to the Wakatipu District. Its mission is to assist those in need by encouraging healthy and empowering life choices. It provides a warm, friendly, confidential environment where people can meet in a home-like setting. Happiness House receives donated goods from the community which helps with their funding and operation. Funding will assist with firewood and rubbish disposal costs, the latter because not all goods are in quality condition and need to be disposed of which is becoming an ongoing and costly issue.

$2,000.00

Hawea Flat Primary School Hawea Flat Primary School provides education for Year 1–6 children in the Hawea Luggate area. Its vision is to provide its children with the knowledge and dispositions needed for them to become successful citizens in the future. The school plans to build an artificial cricket wicket and funding will contribute towards the cost of this. The project would provide a facility not just for the school but for others in the community to use outside school hours including hosting teams from outside of the area.

$1,000.00

Holy Family Catholic School, Wanaka

The Holy Family Catholic School, Wanaka seeks assistance with stage three of a four stage project begun in 2010 to address the lack of play opportunities for children with the Parent Support Group, Friends of the School (FOTS). The grant will contribute towards funding play equipment for senior children. This can help them develop upper body and core strength through spinning. The school roll is projected to reach 172 by the end of 2015 but the school playground is accessible after hours to local people, including a new housing development where there is no playground, so that the equipment will be used by larger numbers than simply the students.

$2,500.00

Hospice Southland Charitable Trust

Hospice Southland provides specialist palliative care to those with life-limiting illness in Southland and the Wakatipu Basin, free of charge and ideally in a setting of their choice. Funding will contribute towards the costs related to the purchase of a vehicle for their newly created Queenstown-based Palliative Care Nurse specialist. The nurse will provide support for people facing terminal illness and their families who would prefer to remain in Queenstown for the end of life care. The vehicle will be used for home, rest home, hospital and other community visits.

$5,000.00

NZ Rural Games NZ Rural Games celebrates the country’s rural heritage through a series of spectator-friendly rural sports competitions. Funding has been approved to assist with St Johns First Aid cover for up to 10,000 people at the two day event in Queenstown in 2016.

$3,620.00

Parent to Parent Southland A contribution from the SKYCITY Queenstown Casino Community Trust will contribute towards Parent to Parent Southland, funding its Support Parent Training course in the Queenstown Lakes area. Parent to Parent Southland uses trainers to facilitate the course, which is designed to equip parents of children with disabilities special needs and health impairments who have volunteered to act as support parents. Over the last year they have supported 36 families with 98 requests for support and information.

$2,593.00

ORGANISATION DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT GRANT AWARDED

Presbyterian Support Otago The purpose of Presbyterian Support Otago is to work across the generations for positive change, strong families and healthy communities. The Buddy Programme was first developed in 1992 and is a community-based early intervention service that contributes to the well-being and positive social development of young people. Young Buddies are aged between 4–12 years and referred by professionals such as teachers and social workers. Some go on to become Adult Buddies themselves. Volunteers spend 2–3 hours a week sharing with a young Buddy. Funding will contribute towards promoting being an Adult Buddy to train those interested in taking up this volunteering opportunity. Additionally it will support some costs of bringing all Adult and Young Buddies together as a group twice a year.

$2,000.00

Queenstown Arts Society The Queenstown Arts Society is focussed on encouraging artists and their role in their community to educate and inform people to promote the visual art and participation in projects. Funding has been awarded to support their project to produce a Mural in Queenstown to increase awareness of pollution and its devastating effect on wildlife. The aim is to encourage young people to participate in creating the mural plus artists form the community, with everyone benefitting from the completed project.

$3,800.00

Queenstown Hockey Club Inc Queenstown Hockey Club Inc is a community group providing an outlet for its members, young and old, to learn a skill, meet other people, keep fit and further their skills through playing in the Central Otago Competition and advance to rep teams. Funding will contribute towards resources such as balls, cones and bibs.

$1,083.54

Queenstown Ice Hockey Club The Queenstown Ice Hockey Club was established to bring the game to Queenstown Lakes and to provide an opportunity for adults and children to learn about and achieve new goals in this field. The club has gone on to develop an amazing array of national grade players that have played for Ice Blacks at international level and then these team mates return to the club and inspire everyone to achieve the best they can. Funding will enable the Club to purchase additional kits that are loaned to players wishing to join and who cannot afford to purchase their own. Each kit supplies a new Ice Hockey player with everything they need to start up and this with a senior mentoring programme and junior player skills sessions means new members receive a fantastic start to their ice hockey games.

$2,500.00

Queenstown Ice Skating Club Inc (QISC)

QISC offers the community a safe, fun, and enjoyable way to learn, develop and grow the sport of ice skating from beginners to competition levels. QISC assists skaters to develop confidence competence and pride in their ability to succeed in their chosen spot. Funding will help support the venue hire for the annual Queenstown Invitational held at the Ice Arena, a day long event on 23 August. The event contributes to the community as skaters and their families come from the greater region, contributing during their stay to the local economy.

$2,000.00

Queenstown Lakes District Council

Queenstown Lakes District Council was set up in the 1980s with the mission to enhance the quality of life for all people in the District by being responsive to community needs through planning and developing. Funding for the District Council will contribute towards the costs of staging the 2015 New Year’s Eve Celebrations event in Queenstown, a major community function with an anticipated 80,000+ attendance, with local musicians performing and after the midnight countdown a stunning fireworks display.

$3,750.00

Queenstown Playcentre The Queenstown Playcentre has been operating 58 years in Queenstown, and is led by parent volunteers who lead and administer the Centre. Its core purpose is to provide quality and affordable early childhood education and community support services for 45–50 families with 60–65 children. The Playcentre does more than provide education, providing a sense of community cohesion, belonging and stability for families who find Queenstown a socially isolating and financially challenging place to live. Funding will be used to purchase a new computer for the Playcentre to replace the old one.

$1,559.13

Queenstown Preschool and Nursery (Queenstown Childcare Centre Inc)

Queenstown Preschool and Nursery provides a full-day year round quality education and care to the children and families/whanau of Queenstown in a safe, supportive environment. Their purpose is that children experience a curriculum that extends their learning and ensures they are prepared to develop into positive and respectful citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand. Funding will contribute to resurfacing the swing area as part of the overall upgrading of the centre facilities for the children’s use including landscaping and resurfacing compliant with regulations.

$3,500.00

Queenstown Primary School Queenstown Primary School (QPS) is the largest school in the district providing education to students from Year 0–8. It delivers high quality and balanced education with the objective of developing well-rounded capable students who are life-long learners. With the integration of eLearning into today’s education QPS has committed to significantly increasing the number of end user devices in the classroom and funding will enable the purchase of a pod (10) of iPad Minis instead of leasing the iPads and Chrome books.

$3,499.90

ORGANISATION DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT GRANT AWARDED

Queenstown Scout Group The four cornerstones in the scout movement are: the outdoors; community; personal development and new experiences. The Queenstown Scout Group caters to young people in the Wakatipu region to enable them to enjoy new adventures, experience the outdoors and have the opportunity to reach their full potential. There are 50 on the waiting list to join. Funding will support purchasing resources ranging from tarps, to tents, to drapes for the Den and life jackets.

$3,000.00

Queenstown Trails Trust Queenstown Trails Trust facilitates and helps fund walking, cycling and horse-riding trails throughout the Wakatipu basin. The Queenstown Trail is a 110km world-class walking and cycling trail that connects Queenstown CBD, Jack’s Point, Arrowtown and Gibbston, with 144,000 users a year, making it the most used off-road trail in the country. In January 2013 severe weather washed out a section of the lower trail and was closed. The upper and lower trail has now been reopened, however the bank has experienced slips over the past three years and the advice of the Geotech engineer was that storm water treatment was required to prevent further erosion. The protection measures are nearly completed with water tables formed and culverts put in but there is a shortfall for gravelling which the Trust hopes to have complete ready for the opening of the summer season. Funding will contribute towards the project costs.

$2,500.00

Red Bridge River Park Charitable Trust

The Red Bridge River Park is creating a community river park at the Luggate Red Bridge with a focus on ecosystem, education, freshwater research, and community participation. The Trust has awarded funds to the project for the purchase of a chainsaw and for native plants and materials such as rabbit netting.

$2,795.00

Rehabilitation and Disabilities Services

Rehabilitation and Disabilities Services provide disability services to the community including equipment hire and access to relevant information. The former Disabilities Service closed in March this year due to their head office losing a major funder so the nearest centre is now either Dunedin or Invercargill. The former manager of the previous centre, Leah McTaggart, has personally funded the opening of the centre to provide hire equipment to the influx of skiers and snowboarders who have had accidents. It services the Central Lakes area which includes Central Otago, Wanaka and Queenstown Lake and has a population of 60,000 which during the holiday seasons can triple in numbers. The grant will be used to purchase equipment and assistant aids for hire.

$4,000.00

Remarkable Theatre Inc Remarkable Theatre Inc wants to produce a play A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie in September 2016 in the Arrowtown Athenaeum Hall, as the first ‘serious’ drama in a string of other plays produced to date since 2009. The budget is based on defraying costs from a projected attendance of 400 people where ticket sales will not fully fund the costs of the production – plus the idea is to keep prices down to make the play accessible for most people. The shortfall will be funded by sponsorships, in-kind assistance, and community funding plus the Theatre’s own resources. Funds will contribute towards the production.

$1,000.00

RockFormation Charitable Trust In response to the growth in the number of youth selecting rock and contemporary music as their preferred genres, and recognising the limited opportunities within the local community the Trust encourages local young musicians to develop their interest in rock and contemporary music. Its mission is to help youth within our community to gain confidence and performance skills. It provides performance and mentoring opportunities such as supporting the formation of student bands, growing musicianship, creativity, technical and performance skills, developing self-confidence, responsibility, leadership and team working skills to assist youth in making a positive contribution to our community. It assists in preparing students for the professional music industry. Funding will contribute towards purchasing additional equipment for band practice. The equipment is available for use by all Wakatipu musicians who are registered as members of Rock Formation Charitable Trust.

$1,498.00

Shotover Primary School Shotover Primary School (SPS) opened its doors to students in February this year with a roll of 88 students Years 1–4 and from 2016 it is expected to have a roll of approximately 250 students from Years 5–8. It has a capacity for 450 students and when the school is completed a maximum of 850 students. The school hopes to become the heart of the community in the exciting new Shotover Country development. It is unique in that it has been built prior to the development of the community around it. Shotover Country will be developed with a village green and a pre-school playground as part of it. The School Board has employed a consultant to plan the playground in accordance with the SPS style and philosophy and has indicative costings for two large pieces of equipment which are just under $100,000. Funding will contribute towards the playground (stage one) and the equipment.

$5,000.00

South Island Light Orchestra – Luma 2016 (SILO)

SILO is an annual ‘light festival’ that takes place in Queenstown at the start of winter and builds on the success of the LUMA Pilot Project held at Winterfestival 2015. The focus of SILO is to create an event for Queenstown’s creative community to share and own. The purpose is to build a meaningful event which engages locals and visitors in a world-class display of New Zealand and international light sculptors. The event will be able to grow and collaborate with a wide group of stakeholders and build pride in the local community. The Trust has awarded funds to contribute towards technical production of the Illuminated Sculptural walk, the Luma Lounge Hospitality area and the pathway.

$3,253.00

ORGANISATION DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT GRANT AWARDED

St Joseph’s School Queenstown St Joseph’s School in Queenstown provides quality learning opportunities for its students, from new entrants to Year 8. It aims to create the best possible environment in which they can develop to their full potential and become positive members of the community. Funding will contribute towards the replacement of the old Activboards with Smart TVs to keep pace with modern technologies.

$1,912.17

Te Puna Ako O Tahuna – Tahuna Early Learning Centre Inc

The main focus of Te Puna Ako O Tahuna – Tahuna Early Learning Centre Inc is to deliver quality early childhood education that encourages its children (tamariki) to be active learners in Te Reo and Tikanga Maori, under a holistic learning approach. It is currently open as a playgroup at Queenstown Playcentre and actively shares its Maori heritage with the benefit of future generations. A core group of 20 families has been behind the formation of an incorporated society to be the governing body with the ultimate aim to be open as a full time early childhood centre specialising in Te Reo and Tikanga Maori. Funding will contribute towards resources including a laptop and other equipment including an iPad and a camera.

$1,603.00

The Parenting Place - Attitude Youth Division

Attitude is the Youth Division of The Parenting Place, a national charity. The national programme works with the New Zealand Health Curriculum to develop resilient kids. It equips young people with life skills to safely negotiate their teenage years and build a meaningful life and is underpinned by the objective to encourage mental and emotional resilience and to help prevent youth suicide, teen pregnancy, bullying, drug and alcohol abuse and low self-esteem. This Project is specifically for the Queenstown Lakes District area bringing two Attitude presenters to Central Otago during August 2016 to deliver Life Skills presentations to eight schools in the region. Funding will contribute towards the Handbooks provided to students at the Life Skills presentations to each of the schools.

$437.36

The Queenstown JazzFest Trust The 2015 Queenstown JazzFest features four days of fantastic live musical entertainment over Labour Weekend, from Friday 23–Monday 26 October. This community owned event is a celebration of all things jazz. It highlights top quality music, showcasing some of the finest local, national and international jazz musicians who will perform in excess of 50 concerts at over 20 different venues throughout the District. The organisers anticipate more than 300 hundred people will attend daily to enjoy the live performances as part the community stage activities. Funding will support audio production services and stage marquee hire cost associated with its Community Programme of events.

$1,452.27

Upper Clutha Women’s Support Group Inc

Upper Clutha Women’s Support Group (UCWSG) support women and families who experience any form of abuse. A grant last year helped subsidise crisis counselling for clients who contact UCWSG specifically for issues related to alcohol, gambling and other addictions. Follow up letters of thanks show a good success rate for counselling of a range of issues. A contribution has been given towards helping with counselling fees, training and supervision. Clients contribute a portion of the counselling with the balance to come from this funding subsidy.

$2,520.00

Volunteering Otago Trust, for Volunteering Central (a division of Volunteering Otago)

Volunteering Otago seeks to connect people within communities through volunteering. It celebrates supports and advances volunteering throughout the Otago community, providing training, advice, advocacy, resources, and recognition for individuals and volunteer-involving organisations. It currently has active volunteer hubs in Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell, Alexandra and Dunedin. In October this year Volunteering Central is hosting Rob Jackson, an international expert in volunteering from the UK and this training is offered to anyone working with volunteers. 101 organisations are registered with Volunteering Central and more than 250 have attended previous training and networking events hosted by Volunteering Central. This grant will contribute towards the event costs with 25–50 people expected to attend.

$1,375.00

Wakatipu Abuse Prevention Network Inc t/a Jigsaw Central Lakes

Wakatipu Abuse Prevention Network Inc t/a Jigsaw Central Lakes offers information and support around the issues of family violence, throughout the Otago region. It helps individuals and families to receive appropriate assistance in helping them to make positive changes in their circumstances. Last year they employed four new staff. The grant will contribute to building a website which can be regularly updated, and can be used to use to reach a wider demographic in the region plus provide information out of hours.

$3,000.00

Wakatipu Croquet Club Inc Wakatipu Croquet Club Inc is a sports club where players of any age can come and play, all competing on equal terms with each other. Funding will help purchase new tournament quality hoops.

$2,500.00

Wakitipu Heritage Trust for Arrowtown Gaol Restoration Project

The Wakatipu Heritage Trust is undertaking the restoration and seismic strengthening project of the Arrowtown Gaol, a category one building, and built in 1876 the oldest gaol in New Zealand and the only stone gaol from the goldfields era. More than 3,000 school children visit the gaol and 2,000 general visitors annually. The gaol, if restored from its current declining state, can become a ‘must visit’ attraction for the region. As part of the project the Trust seeks to place internal interpretation panels and a speaker system to tell he stories of the Gaol, Law and Order, and the Goldrush – four external panels are also proposed. The Trust has contributed funds to support the project for interpretation, research, design and installation; signage, and Rendell electric audio equipment and installation.

$11,522.00

ORGANISATION DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT GRANT AWARDED