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Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust announces final grants
Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust announces final grants and celebrates the impact of nearly $100 million to Canterbury
Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trustees today granted $8 million to 20 new local recovery projects and announced that the nearly $100 million donated to the Appeal has been substantively allocated to Canterbury, three years after the first funds were granted.
Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trustees today granted $8 million to 20 new local recovery projects and announced that the nearly $100 million donated to the Appeal has been substantively allocated to Canterbury, three years after the first funds were granted.
The Trustees made the final announcements at The Court theatre in Christchurch to a large gathering of grant recipients and local dignitaries, to celebrate the impact of Appeal donations on communities in greater Christchurch.
Since the launch of the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal on 27 February 2011 by Prime Minister John Key, a total $99 million of donations have been received or pledged, $98.4 million has been approved to projects, and $600,000 from a SKY Television pledge will be allocated over the next three years.
“Every single dollar donated to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal has counted. Every dollar went directly to a community project in Christchurch or Canterbury and on behalf of the Trustees I thank everyone who made a donation, it is thanks to your generosity that so many great local initiatives could be funded quickly,” says Dr Rod Carr, Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trustee.
From early 2011 Trustees chose to focus on communities not individuals, not to duplicate the work of government and other funders, and to fund the projects that would otherwise take many years of local fundraising to address.
The Trust is no longer receiving funding requests but the Trustees will continue to meet as required to make funding decisions concerning projects that directly benefit people still struggling, and on any other matters.
The $98.4 million has benefitted projects across six portfolios: $35.85 million (36%) to large permanent projects; $20.82 million (21%) to heritage and culture projects; $18.91 million (19%) to sport and recreation projects; $13.68 million (14%) to hardship/spiritual and faith projects; $4.88 million (5%) to economic revitalisation projects; and $4.27 million (4%) to education and youth projects.
Today, the Appeal Trust announced $8 million in grants to these 20 new local recovery projects:
| PROJECT NAME | APPEAL FUNDS GRANTED | NEW PROJECT DETAILS |
| Redcliffs Public Library | up to $50,000 | Towards relocating a replacement building for the former library demolished following the earthquakes. |
| Riccarton House | up to $50,000 | To complete earthquake-related repairs and strengthening to allow it to reopen to the public. |
| Bright Start Scholarships | up to $57,000 | To provide additional earthquake-related scholarships for 20 students in 2014/15. The UK Appeal Trust has kindly funded this project. |
| Squash Canterbury | up to $60,000 | To repair and upgrade three squash courts at the YMCA in central Christchurch to ensure there is an adequate number of courts across Christchurch following the closure of earthquake damaged and other courts. |
| Rāpaki Marae | up to $80,000 | To repair the wharekai used for wider hapu events and gatherings, damaged as a result of the earthquakes. |
| Let’s Find &
Fixinitiative (CanCERN) | up to $100,000 | To fund temporary repairs to uninsured houses in time for the 2014 winter. |
| Christchurch Schoolof Music | up to $100,000 | To establish a permanent administration hub near the classrooms used for teaching, following the demolition of its earthquake-damaged premises. |
| Showbiz Christchurch | up to $138,000 | For additional works on its replacement building on St. Asaph Street so that it can continue to support grassroots performing arts groups in Christchurch. |
| Centre of Contemporary Art | up to $140,000 | To complete the earthquake-related repairs needed so the gallery building can re-open to the public. |
| Spencerville Community Hub | up to $150,000 | To provide a new facility for community groups that lost important facilities in the earthquakes. |
| Scottish Society of New Zealand | up to $182,500 | To repair its earthquake-damaged hall built 1884 in St Albans, for use by the Society and community groups. |
| West Spreydon School pool | $200,000 | Towards repair of the school’s large outdoor swimming pool. SKY Television is kindly funding this project. |
| ChristchurchCommunity House | up to $240,000 | To fit-out permanent premises in Tuam Street to provide a home for a large number of small to medium sized community groups displaced by the earthquakes. |
| Sports House | $250,000 | Towards fit-out costs of an administration hub at the Metro Sports Facility to provide a home for a minimum of 10 regional sporting organisations displaced by the earthquakes. |
| Boosting Residential Advisory Services | up to $300,000 | To extend the residential advisory service to help people still working through insurance and housing issues. |
| North Avon Christchurch BMX Club | $456,000 | To replace the track and surrounding facilities that sustained extensive earthquake damage. Will provide a venue for national and international meets. |
| Glenelg Health Camp (Stand Children’s Services) | $500,000 | Towards rebuilding the entire facility that was destroyed by the earthquakes, so it can reopen to children in need. |
| Surf Life Saving | Up to $850,000 | Towards the rebuild and repair of four surf life saving clubs so that surf life saving patrol services can continue. The Surf Life Saving clubs that will receive funding are Taylors Mistake ($300,000); South Brighton ($150,000); New Brighton ($300,000); and Sumner ($100,000). |
| ChristchurchSymphony Orchestra | Up to $1.25m | To help the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra establish a permanent rehearsal and administrative space to replace its venue lost in the earthquakes. |
| Relieving hardship | Up to $2.84 million | Towards projects that benefit people still struggling as a result of the earthquakes, via social services and advisory services. |
| TOTAL | $8 million |
Last
month the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust granted $2.5
million, including $1.25 million from the Ministry for
Culture and Heritage, to reconstruct the Armagh and Durham
Streets stone towers of the Canterbury Provincial Council
Buildings (which collapsed during the earthquakes), to
enable the repair of the wooden buildings, so that the
complex can be reopened for public use.
The work of the
Advisory Board has officially ended, although members may be
called upon to advise the Trustees on the $15 million
‘Connecting the City to the Sea’ project.
The
Department of Internal Affairs will continue to monitor and
administer the grants for the 10-year life time of the
Trust.
Other projects funded with Appeal funds include: community centres for Aranui, Mt Pleasant, Belfast and Opawa; St John emergency equipment; rebuild and restoration of the Clock Tower and the Great Hall at the Christchurch Arts Centre; supporting Canterbury’s 200 youth workers; repair and rebuild of Plunket facilities; over 60 neighbourhood events to foster community connectedness; $15 million “Connecting the City to the Sea” through eastern Christchurch; the Re:START mall; and, repairing sports fields and netball/tennis courts.
A full list of projects
funded by the Appeal Trust is available here
[http://christchurchappealtrust.org.nz/Running-list].
[ends]
About
the Appeal Trust:
The Christchurch Earthquake
Appeal Trust is responsible for allocating the funds raised
to support earthquake recovery initiatives. The Trust is an
independent charity, registered under the Charities Act of
New Zealand and is governed and operated by the Trustees
independent of
government.
christchurchappealtrust.org.nz
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