Our vision as a community funder is for the south to thrive. Our strategic vision provides the framework which Trustees use to make their granting decisions and outlines the direction the Trust takes for investing in our community.
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, hapū, whānau and Māori 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:
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.
We will demonstrate our integrity by being impartial, transparent, honest, authentic, fair and by having sound ethics.
We will work together with our community and build relationships through shared experiences. We will be accessible, inclusive, friendly, available and connected.
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.
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.
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.
Through until the end of 2022 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 2022 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:
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:
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
Higher priority:
Medium priority:
Lower priority:
Higher priority:
Addressing issues of inequality that present barriers to learning and participating
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
Recently we completed a refresh of our Toi Ahurea/Arts, Heritage and Culture Pou and it reinforced for us the importance of recognising that toi ahurea/arts, heritage, and culture, in all its diverse forms, is integral to our community, helping to define who we are, contributing to our wellbeing, our sense of identity, our economy and our vision for a Thriving South. From korero and engagement with Mana Whenua and a wide range of stakeholders we heard about the sector's strengths and challenges, and their priorities for our funding of toi ahurea/arts, heritage and culture. What we learned has shaped our thinking, our strategy and our refreshed Pou priorities which are outlined below.
You can find our more about the refresh, the outcomes and impact we hope to achieve through our investment in toi ahurea/arts, heritage and culture, and some of the proactive opportunities we are working on as a result of the refresh.
Higher priority:
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
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:
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
Lower priority:
Supporting infrastructure projects that provide a platform for economic activity
Supporting social enterprise that contributes to one or more of our priorities