Medibank grants for healthier lives

Medibank grants for healthier lives

1 May 2013

Six innovative community programmes aimed at improving the health of New Zealanders are to benefit from $65,580 in grants announced by the Medibank Community Fund today.

Recipients are the IN2IT street games in Auckland promoting unstructured, creative play for children and young people; the Waikato International Community Garden Project; Auckland Water Safety; Te Ara Hauora - The Path of Wellbeing in Greymouth; Nourish cookery programme at the New Brighton Community Gardens, and Garden to Table which shows primary school children how to grow, harvest, prepare and share fresh, seasonal food.

The grants are aimed at helping people in the community to connect with and support one another, and live healthier lives, says Medibank General Manager New Zealand, Andrea Pettett.

“As a company that works in the health field, Medibank sees every day the stress families and individuals are placed under when someone becomes isolated or unwell. We hope the grants will help people to stay connected, live longer and in good health by staying mentally and physically active.”

Catherine Bell, Founder of Dish magazine and Chairperson of the Garden to Table Trust was thrilled to be told of the organisation’s $15,000 grant.

“We are incredibly grateful to Medibank for seeing the Garden to Table programme as important for the future health of our children. As well as supporting Garden to Table schools, we are also developing the Wynfield Quarter with Waterfront Auckland – a 1500 square metre area which will house an extensive edible garden and classroom facility for up to 600 inner city children to visit every week. This money will go a long way.”

Applications for the 2013/2014 grants open in August 2013, and community groups are urged to apply. Applications can be downloaded from the Medibank Community Fund website: www.medibankcf.co.nz.

Medibank is a leading Australasian health company, which provides more than 500,000 face-to-face consultations and answers more than 1.8 million health advice, coaching and chronic disease management calls annually. In New Zealand, Medibank Health Solutions operates Healthline and other telephone health services, including a Mental Health Line for a number of District Health Boards.

Established in 2011, the Medibank Community Fund has the specific goal of helping Medibank to extend its community reach via support of grassroots healthy living and community connectedness projects. Each year, Medibank commits one per cent of its pre-tax profit to the Fund to support four program areas: partnerships, community grants, scholarship grants and donations.

ENDS

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