Waipā community funding up for grabs

Waipā community groups can now apply for funding.

Waipā community groups can now apply for funding to support their projects or events from the Community Discretionary Fund, open now.

This is the second round of funding from this financial year. Cambridge Community Board has $29,595, Te Awamutu-Kihikihi Community Board has $8452 and Pirongia Ward Committee has $10,130 remaining in their funds. At the first round held in September, $76,500 was allocated.

The funds are to be used at the boards’ and committee’s discretion and can also go towards their community-based projects.

The Te Awamutu-Kihikihi Community Board runs its battery recycling project with some of this funding.

Community clubs, groups and organisations are eligible, with one-off projects and fundraising events prioritised.

In August last year, the Rotary Club of Cambridge received $5000 to establish a youth centre in Cambridge.

In recognising that recent years have been tough on teenagers, the centre aims to assist and inspire Cambridge’s young people aged 13 to 19, giving them somewhere positive and fun to be, encouraging personal growth, and fostering good connections in a community space.

The club’s youth and new generation director Kim Prichard said projects such as the youth centre need community backing to get off the ground.

“An idea might be small, but with support such as the community board funding, these needed projects can start to be realised,” Prichard said.

The project has been a joint effort between Rotary, Cambridge High School students and families, as well as the Hautapu Sports Club as the venue.

“The funding helped us initiate the start of the project, to acquire key club items and improve the junior clubrooms’ kitchen facility. In contributing this way, not only does our youth club benefit but so do other venue users, visiting sports clubs and the like,” Prichard said.

“It is not just about the dollars, though. The community board endorsement gives our project the backing it needs for us to seek support from other avenues in the community.”

Applications to the fund close on March 1 at 5pm.

Further information including the application form and funding criteria for the Community Discretionary Fund is available at waipadc.govt.nz/communitydiscretionaryfund

Stay up to date with the Waikato Herald and Te Awamutu Courier

Get the latest Waikato headlines straight to your inbox Monday to Saturday. Register for free today - click here and choose Local News.