Our Vision
Our vision as a community funder is for the southern region to thrive. We protect and grow the community’s fund and engage in effective and innovative grant making. For over 30 years we have provided a helping hand to hundreds of people and communities in the south and plan to continue to support generations to come.
Underpinning all that we do is our commitment to the Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We are committed to working in partnership with iwi, hapu, whanau and Maori communities to support their aspirations.
Our aim is to get more people participating to enhance personal and community wellbeing. We understand the unique needs of places and communities within our region and the need to collaborate and partner to achieve greater impact together.
Our four pou (pillars) are:
- Health, Wellbeing & Active Lifestyles
- Education
- Art, Heritage & Culture
- Community Development & Community Economic Development
Our Values
RESPECT/MANAAKITANGA
We will demonstrate our respect for our community by understanding the diversity of people and views. We will show our respect and trust in the people we work alongside by being compassionate, sincere and loyal.
INTEGRITY/TIKANGA
We will demonstrate our integrity by being impartial, transparent, honest, authentic, fair and by having sound ethics.
APPROACHABLE/WHANAUNGATANGA
We will work together with our community and build relationships through shared experiences. We will be accessible, inclusive, friendly, available and connected.
PROACTIVE/TŪHONOHONO
We will keep an open mind and look forward to the future and support innovation so that our community can take the initiative and take advantage of opportunities. We will recognise the intergenerational nature of the Trust.
CONNECTED/KOTAHITANGA
We will be connected to our community by keeping it at the heart of all that we do. We are committed to collaborating and working together in partnership with our community.
RESPONSIBLE/KAITIAKITANGA
We will demonstrate our responsibility by using our combined wisdom to be prudent, conscientious, diligent and socially responsible in our decision making to ensure appropriate guardianship of the Trust resources. We will be accountable to our community.
STRATEGIC FOCUS – COVID-19
Through until the end of the year we will continue to fund to our strategic vision but will concentrate our focus on the most critical priorities (identified as higher, medium, and lower priority) and supporting people and communities most impacted by COVID-19.
As we work with our community to reactivate, build resilience and to build back better so they can thrive, we will focus on; enhancing the capacity and capability of organisations to work in new ways, to partner and collaborate, and to explore change for good opportunities. Our approach will focus on equity and so we recognise different approaches and resources will be required to achieve equitable outcomes. We also understand that key to a thriving region post COVID-19 will be ensuring social and economic recovery.
We know there will be high demand on our funding due to the impacts of COVID 19 on communities and the challenges being faced by other funders in the south. So, we encourage organisations to access where appropriate the range of government and other funding agencies support available as this will help to ensure our limited funding has the most impact possible.
Grant applications
We continue to accept applications and through until the end of the year we will be reprioritising and sharpening some focus areas within our strategy - click here to download our full Strategic Vision.
In the short term the following will not be a high priority for us:
- Maintenance and repair of facilities
- Capital projects unless there is strong evidence that it will:
- Stimulate recovery
- Has a community or regional social or economic outcome, i.e. creates or retains jobs or leverages additional funding into the region
- Touring productions and organisations/projects delivered from outside the region given the need to focus on and to support local
- Projects events and programmes that conflict with any COVID-19 Alert level guidelines
- Duplication of services or existing similar activities
Recipients with approved funding
We trust you to know what’s best for your community so if you require some flexibility we encourage you to get in touch if you need to revisit any aspect of your project or funding.
We’re also happy to extend accountability and other reporting deadlines.
Our Priorities
We have reviewed our Pou (Pillars) and Priorities below in relation to our strategic focus and categorised them:
- Higher priority
- Medium priority
- Lower priority
Our Strategic Pillars
Health & Wellbeing
Working with communities to ensure people participate, are supported, empowered and cared for
Higher priority:
-
Promoting people’s wellbeing through prevention and early intervention with a focus on support for; early years (prenatal to 4yrs), parenting, new migrants and youth
-
Supporting vulnerable people with a focus on support for; the early years (prenatal to 4 years), older persons, people with a disability, at-risk families and high-needs populations
-
Supporting appropriate access to services for rural communities
- Encouraging and supporting organisations to provide sustainable services through partnering, collaborating and the sharing of services presently delivered by a number of single focus organisations
Active LIfestyles
Working with communities to ensure people participate, are supported, empowered and cared for
Higher priority:
- Providing grassroots support for life-long active participation and engagement with a focus on support for; children (0-13 years), older persons, coaching and volunteering, inactive people and those experiencing barriers to participation
Medium priority:
- Supporting appropriate and sustainable infrastructure (people, services and facilities) with a focus on; partnering and collaboration, consolidation/sharing of services and multi-use facilities
Lower priority:
- Support elite sport with a focus on supporting the development of athletes, coaches and officials to excel and reach their potential, and sporting franchises operating within financially viable models
Education
Working with communities to ensure every person has the opportunity to achieve their potential
Higher priority:
-
Addressing issues of inequality that present barriers to learning and participating
- Students identified by their school as being at risk of disengaging
Medium priority:
-
Supporting 0-5 year old children to have the best start with a focus on support for; engaging and supporting parents to be involved in their child’s learning and development, ensuring children are well prepared to succeed by the time they start school and providing support for identified vulnerable/at risk children
-
Raising the achievement of identified underachieving year 1-8 students
-
Second chance education
- Preparation of students for life after schooling with a focus on support for; life skills and financial literacy, careers education, effective transitions/pathways and linkages between education and industry
Art, Heritage & Culture
Working with communities to ensure people participate, celebrate, and preserve our arts, heritage and culture
Higher priority:
-
Increase awareness of and access to active participation in artistic, cultural and heritage activities with a focus on support for; children and young people and people not currently participating
-
Supporting a range of local and touring artistic, cultural and heritage experiences with a focus on outreach that shares art, culture and heritage with the wider community
-
Celebrating and preserving the cultural diversity of our region with a focus on support for; preservation and development of te reo and tikanga and opportunities for the sharing and expression of all cultures
Medium priority:
- Supporting emerging and established artists and arts practitioners to excel and reach their potential
Lower priority:
- Celebrating and preserving the regions significant/unique heritage with a focus on support for; category 1 historic places, sites, structures or areas and telling the South’s unique stories
Community Development
Working with communities to ensure they are connected, successful, resilient and dynamic
Higher priority:
-
Alignment with local and regional development strategies and community development priorities
-
Support communities to adapt and respond to their changing demographics, environment, community services and facility needs
-
Support communities to welcome and respond to our region’s increasingly diverse population
- Support communities to encourage community cohesion through opportunities that bring people together and provide a sense of belonging
Medium priority:
-
Supporting communities to identify their ideas, assets, capabilities, resources and opportunities – focusing on community-led development approaches, developing volunteers and community leaders
Lower priority:
- Support communities to access relevant data and information to enable well informed community conversations
Community Economic Development
Working with communities to ensure they are connected, successful, resilient and dynamic
Higher priority:
-
Alignment with local or regional development strategies and economic priorities
-
Ensuring we maximise the potential of all our region’s population
-
Recognising and supporting the growth of Māori economic development and local investment opportunities
- Supporting the start-up of destinational events that bring added net economic benefit to the region
Lower priority:
-
Supporting infrastructure projects that provide a platform for economic activity
-
Supporting social enterprise that contributes to one or more of our priorities