Porirua City Council confirmed more than $100,000 in waste-levy-funded grants at its meeting on 11 December to help waste minimise waste in the city. Recipients of the grants included businesses, schools, community organisations and social housing providers, showing that all of our community can make a difference in reducing waste.

The Young People’s Fund recipients were also announced at the same meeting.

As part of receiving a waste levy from the Government, the Council pledged in May to support projects that aim to help encourage Porirua becoming a low-waste city. It was hoped to see initiatives that create new opportunities and encourage community input.

After recommendations from Council officers, grants were endorsed by Porirua City councillors and Mayor Anita Baker at the extraordinary meeting of Council on 11 December.

Fifteen tier 1 applications were received and the successful applicants were:

- Te Āhuru Mōwai ($19,262 towards education and waste minimisation activities for social housing tenants)

- Windley School ($4500 towards a composting system at the school)

- NZ Sport Fishing Council ($16,000 towards supporting the Kai Ika project to begin work with recreational fishers on rescuing fish frames for distribution to the community)

- Wesley Community Action ($30,000 for a pilot scheme collecting food scraps from hospitality businesses to be processed into compost)

- Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira ($15,000 towards a maara kai (food garden) and composting at Kura Toa)

- WELLfed NZ Trust ($12,000, towards embedding composting and waste minimisation into cooking workshops)

- TechCollect NZ Ltd ($4000 for e-waste drop-off at Noel Leeming).

Smaller, tier 2, grants of up to $2000 are allocated on a monthly, rolling basis.

Meanwhile, there was also a report on the Young People People’s Fund recipients at the 11 December meeting. A special Youth Panel of six people aged 16-24 ranked the applicants in the August/September round of funding and decided to distribute $6000 to each of the following recipients:

- Big Brothers Big Sisters Wellington (to support youth mentoring programmes designed to help tamariki who are facing adversity)

- Āhuru Mōwai Trust (for the creation of their own safe space for families raising children with extra and special needs)

- Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington (to support the Ngā Hoe a Kupe Pathfinder scholarships to help more disadvantaged students thrive at university)

- Sense Rugby (New Zealand) Trust (to provide neurodiverse and disabled young people an opportunity to take on new challenges and succeed in a team environment through rugby)

- Ignite Sports Trust (to support predominantly Māori and Pasific rangatahi from Porirua College to learn life skills, leadership and gain mentoring opportunities)

- Titahi Bay Te Kōhanga Reo (for the establishment of a cultural learning garden so tamariki can engage with traditional Māori knowledge through planting, harvesting and observing the environment).

The Young People’s Fund, which is contestable, was originally set up by Council in 2017 to support those in Porirua who don’t have the same opportunities as others. It aims to engage tamariki and rangatahi in activities that contribute to personal development and can make a positive impact in our communities.

Applicants need to have shown how young people have helped in the design of the project or initiative.

Mayor Baker said grants towards waste minimisation and helping young people can only help our city.

"It’s rewarding when you see where this money is going," she said.

"There are incredibly bright people in Porirua who are putting their minds towards keeping waste from our landfill and also really giving the young people in our community a hand up."

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