19 December 2014

Wellington’s unsung heroes funded

Community groups have received a total of $98,848 in grants for recreation and community projects thanks to Wellington City Council.

Of the 49 grants awarded, 27 were made from the ‘Social and Recreation Fund’ and 22 from the newly established ‘Neighbours Day Aotearoa Fund’.

Community, Sport and Recreation Committee Chair, Councillor Paul Eagle, says that the funding aims to foster strong, sustainable communities and support building greater capacity in Wellington’s neighbourhoods.

“We get many, many worthy applications – all who want to make a difference – but we only have limited funding available which can make it difficult to decide who deserves help”.

Serving the poor was the mission of the late Catholic Sister Suzanne Aubert and the Sisters of Compassion who came to Wellington in 1899 to set up a soup kitchen.

“We have many unsung heroes in Wellington such as the Sisters of Compassion who run the Soup Kitchen and serve breakfast and dinner six days a week to people living on the margins of our community” says Councillor Eagle.

A grant of $18,700 has been made to support their work with 11 organisations who form Wellington City’s ‘Street Outreach Team’. They help train and prepare the outreach team to support members of the street community who are seen begging or rough sleeping on Wellington streets.

A fund was also established this year to support community projects taking place over the summer as part of ‘Neighbours Day Aotearoa 2015’ in the lead-up to ‘Neighbours Day’ in March. Local projects ranging from summer art workshops to community picnics have been funded as part of this initiative.

The recipients for the October 2014 round of funding are below. The closing date for the next round of the Social and Recreation Fund is 23 March 2015.

Social and Recreation Fund Grants

Neighbours Day Aotearoa Fund Grants

ENDS

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