Whanganui’s Community House planning fundraising show to pay power bills

Community House administrator Nerrily Frith, chairwoman Anne Englebretsen and manager Shelley Loader at the Royal Whanganui Opera House. Photo / Bevan Conley.

A variety show at the Royal Whanganui Opera House will help keep the lights on at Community House – home to 14 Whanganui non-profit organisations.

They include Balance Aotearoa, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Service Trust.

Community House manager Shelley Loader said she hoped to raise $10,000 to $15,000 from the show, to cover electricity costs for the year.

She was recently declined funding for electricity from the usual provider.

Across the not-for-profit sector, organisations were experiencing difficulty accessing funding because of a strained economic situation, she said.

“Things are pretty bad at the moment.

“We are totally reliant on funding but it does come and go, and it’s dependent on a lot of things such as government policies or interest rates.”

Loader said although organisations were well-versed in dealing with funding cuts it still required innovative solutions and could create uncertainty for the future of services.

When the economy wasn’t doing well “things tightened up”, and there was more competition between organisations for limited funding.

“It’s not just how much money is available, it’s also where it is being prioritised,” she said.

The pulling of the electricity funding puts Community House in a difficult position.

“Either we suck up the cost or the member organisations have to pay for that and they no longer get free electricity.”

Loader said Community House helped not-for-profit organisations put together funding schedules, which could take an immense amount of time and effort.

Her vision for the variety show included giving school children the chance to “perform at an incredible venue”.

Whanganui Performing Arts, also part of Community House, has struggled to put on performances at the Royal Whanganui Opera House in recent years because of the high cost of bookings.

Community House has contacted schools and sponsors to take part and Loader said “some significant groups” were already interested.

Concert tickets will be kept as low as possible so all families of the school children involved can attend.

She said the show itself could feature anything that fell into the performing arts category, from choirs and rock groups to poetry and drama.

“There could even be sports teams getting on stage if they wanted to perform a demonstration.

“We want it to be fun. It’s not going to be a big, scary thing where people have to be perfect.”

The concert will take place over the weekend of November 1 to November 3.

Anyone looking to get involved through performances or sponsorship can contact Shelly Loader via manager@communityhouse.org.nz.

* This story has been amended to correct a statement given in error about Whanganui Performing Arts’ use of the Opera House.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.