Media Release: Thursday 30 August 2007

Seven groups share $97,539 Meridian Energy Manapouri Te Anau Community Fund

Communities in Manapouri and Te Anau will be delighted by the $97,539 soon to give worthy projects in their area a helping hand.

This week, the Meridian Energy Manapouri Te Anau Community Fund advisory panel announced it has chosen seven projects that will receive funding in recognition of the special contribution they make.

The projects soon to receive funding are the Fiordland Health Trust’s integrated health centre, Fiordland College, Southland area branch of Plunket, Te Anau School, Marakura Yacht Club, Fiordland Museum Trust and the Kepler Challenge.

The Fiordland Health Trust’s integrated health centre received the biggest contribution. The project will get a $50,000 boost, which is 10 percent of the total fund allocation of cash for the Manapouri Te Anau area.

Community Fund panel members recognised the importance of the project in response to the call from the entire community, led by organisers and supported by Southland District Mayor Frana Cardno.

“We’re delighted, it’s such a responsible use of the Community Fund and will be very well received by everyone because it will benefit everyone in the community,” said Ms Cardno.

After years of fundraising, the $387,000 ambulance bay is complete. Now work is underway to get the community health centre up and running.

Designed to be a dedicated ‘one-stop-shop’, the centre will replace the existing medical centre that can’t cope with the growing local population in Southland and the hundreds of thousands of visitors coming to the Fiordland National Park each year.

“People have worked so hard for years to keep this massive project going and the community must be recognised for that. It is actually very tiring for all the volunteers and organisers. It would take such a long time to raise $50,000, so this gives us a boost.”

“We’re going to do it, and the money from the Meridian Energy Manapouri Te Anau Community Fund will make things that little bit easier,” Ms Cardno added.

Ian Collie, chairperson of the Fiordland Health Trust, was also delighted with the news, he said: ”This is a significant amount of money. We’ve still got a long way to go, but this really helps.”

Meridian Energy Manapouri Te Anau Community Fund member Jill Tauri said the panel was very pleased with the range of projects it had supported in this round.

Ms Tauri said:” The integrated health centre was an important project for us. In making a significant contribution we are hopefully recognising the work and commitment of the whole community. This community has been giving and giving on this project for almost 10 years now, they are phenomenal. Hopefully our contribution will help them see some more progress on the new building and give the volunteers and community a boost.”

Another project to receive funding was Te Anau School. The school’s dream of a new fitness adventure playground will soon become a reality.

Principal Terry Cayford said the school is absolutely delighted to receive support from the fund: “It’s hard to put into words how we feel about receiving the funding. We’d raised $35,000 and we were about half way there to the full cost of a new play area, but to receive funding that takes us almost up to the whole amount is just fantastic.“

Mr Cayford paid tribute to the parents and children who have worked hard to keep the fundraising going: “People have been so supportive and it’s so hard to raise that sort of money.

“Putting it in perspective, we’d expect a year’s worth of sausage sizzles to yield around $1,100-$1,200. So the contribution from the Community Fund is fantastic in that it is going to make this project possible very soon.”

“We’re very grateful to the fund and to Meridian who really are a part of our community here at Te Anau, we’re proud of that.”

In its second round, the Meridian Energy Manapouri Te Anau Community Fund is managed by a panel of community members and Meridian Energy staff, who work in partnership to help decide what local initiatives are supported.

The support given by the fund can be large or small, depending on the project; the advisory panel may give all the money required to make a small project work, or it can part-fund a bigger project, to give the recipients the help they need to get moving to the next stage.

If you would like to find out more about the Meridian Energy Manapouri Te Anau Community Fund, and whether your project would qualify for consideration, please go to http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/AboutUs/, or email community.fund[at]meridianenergy.co.nz. You can also call 03 357 9732 for more information.

Applications for consideration in the next round must be submitted by 8 November 2007.

Meridian Energy Manapouri Te Anau recipients July 2007

Fiordland Health Trust: $50,000 to assist with the development of the integrated health centre. The centre will provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ for access to specialist consultants; basic emergency facilities; day care patient monitoring; a dentist and physiotherapy area; a pharmacy, public and district nurses' offices; as well as a community room to house existing services such as the podiatrist, optometrist and other health support services.

Fiordland College: $9,119.25 will go towards the purchase of a half class set of electronic keyboards for class instruction and one set of band instruments for class instruction, which will also be available at lunchtimes and for group activities.

Southland area branch of Plunket: $3,120 will go towards replacing nine infant and 11 child car seats as part of Plunket’s Car Seat Rental Scheme.

Te Anau School: $25,000 to go towards the upgrade of the school’s fitness adventure playground. The school has been fundraising for three years to replace their existing 20-year-old timber structure that was costing a lot to maintain. The dream of the new adventure playground will now become a reality very soon.

Marakura Yacht Club: $2,500 will help with the operational costs of the 2008 Te Anau Downs Classic Yacht Race. The club will also get $800-worth of Meridian Energy gear to wear.

Fiordland Museum Trust: $2,000 will assist with the Fiordland Museum’s oral history research project ‘The Venison Years’.

Kepler Challenge: $5,000 to assist with running the helicopter transporting volunteers round the course on race day and ensuring a safe and secure environment for entrants.

ENDS

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