Grapegrower relief funding paid out

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Three Gisborne growers have benefited from a fundraiser by the New Zealand wine industry to support growers impacted by Cyclone Gabriellen

“After Gabrielle hit, many in the national wine community wanted to donate to help our Gisborne wine community,” Gisborne Winegrowers chairman Mark Thompson said.

With the support of the Sunrise Foundation, a charitable fund was set up to channel the donations into.

“On behalf of Gisborne Wine Growers (GWG) I would  like  to thank all those people, businesses and associations who donated to this fund.

“At a recent meeting of the GWG committee, it was decided that GWG would match dollar-for-dollar the amount in this fund.

“We asked for applications from affected growers and those applications were forwarded to an independent assessor, who decided that three growers were eligible for funding.

“The funds have been split three ways and have been paid out this week,” Mr Thompson said.

“We hope these funds go some way to helping get these vineyards back up and producing for the 2023/24 season.”

The amount of money raised by the appeal, and now distributed, remains confidential.