Contributing to the social and cultural well-being of the community is a priority for Waitomo District Council.

And one way it does this is through the distribution of funding and grants into the community.

WDC’s Discretionary Grants Fund provides community assistance for the ‘not for profit’ sector in order to create a strong social base and meet local needs.

Community clubs, groups and organisations operating within the Waitomo District on a not-for-profit basis may be eligible to apply.

Projects supported may include administration and operational costs, training costs for personnel, initial project costs, public education events, non-capital items, hall/facility hire and equipment hire.

Council also administers grants and funding on behalf of other organisations, including the Creative Communities Scheme by Creative New Zealand, the DC Tynan Trust, and Sport New Zealand’s Rural Travel Fund.

Waitomo District Council’s Manager Community Development Clowdy Ngatai is encouraging residents and community groups to take advantage of the funding opportunities available.

To help with this, she recently organised a funding and grants expo alongside Community Waikato and Te Kuiti Community House to help community groups see where funding could best be sourced both internal and external to the District. 

“There were two sessions that saw a total of more than 100 people attend to meet funders from the Waitomo and Waikato areas,” says Clowdy.

“The community was able to socialise with the funders and talk about their specific projects to see where funding could best be sourced as well as attending workshops on how to make well-appointed funding applications.

“We were so pleased to have such a great turnout, and we hope it will go a long way in helping individuals and community groups realise the funding opportunities available in our district and the great region, in order to support the many groups to do their positive project work that makes our community what it is.”

The application round for the Discretionary Grants Fund is open now and closes on 1 June.