More than 77 play, active recreation and sport organisations across the Hawke’s Bay region have received a total of $547,185 funding from Sport NZ’s $15 million Community Resilience Fund Phase 2 to help alleviate the financial impact from COVID-19.

The fund, which closed on 30 September, is part of the $265 million Sports Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020 and focused on providing support to help play, active recreation and sport organisations recover, rebuild and grow stronger as a result of COVID-19.

The fund was increased from $10 million to $15 million due to the volume of applications received over the first few weeks. A total of 2,070 organisations across the county have received funding to cover fixed and operational costs for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 September 2020.

“The fund built on the previous Community Resilience Fund Phase One, in which a total of $6 million was awarded to nearly 2,000 clubs and regional organisations to cover fixed costs. This second resilience fund provided an opportunity for further support, but this time allowing applications of up to $25,000 to cover both fixed and operational costs,” says Sport NZ CEO Peter Miskimmin.

“The broadening of the eligibility criteria from the previous Community Resilience Fund has meant more organisations were able to apply for support, including applicants that were not affiliated to Sport NZ national partners. This has helped a wider range of community organisations to continue to deliver activities and programmes that have a key role in maintaining individual and community health and wellbeing.”

The Community Resilience Fund Phase 2 was distributed on behalf of Sport NZ by the county’s network of 14 Regional Sports Trusts, and Sport Hawke’s Bay CEO, Mark Aspden says it has been great to see regional bodies supported by the fund.

“The Community Resilience Fund has provided some much needed support for the play, active recreation and sport sector in what has been an unsettling year for so many of our local organisations.”

“There was a long period where organisations were unable to put on regular competition for their members, which placed additional financial pressure on the sector. This fund has allowed these organisations to continue to operate and focus on supporting members and staff.”

The Community Resilience Fund Phase 2 is part of a much broader recovery programme being managed by Sport NZ to help the sector through the impact of COVID-19.

Other initiatives include the $68 million Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa Fund for community-based programmes and projects helping children and young people get active, as well as additional investment to provide ongoing support for Sport NZ’s national partners and their national leagues and key programmes.

In addition, Sport NZ’s Exceptional Systems Support Fund provided $1.88 million has supported 38 organisations including disability providers, recreation organisations and Māori national sporting organisations that did not already receive investment directly from Sport NZ.

Sport Hawke’s Bay is also managing theTū Manawa Active Aotearoa Fund in the region on behalf of Sport NZ.

A list of all the CRF2 funding recipients can be found here.

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