The Central Lakes Trust (CLT) has approved a grants budget of more than $9 million and triggered its emergency management fund to help with the difficult times ahead in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Despite a challenging investment environment, the board has approved a grants budget of $9.4 million for the 2020/21 financial year,” trust chair Linda Robertson said. 

CLT chief executive Susan Findlay said the trust was stepping up to support charitable groups.

“As we face the challenges of the COVID-19 virus together, we know there will be a growing impact on those charitable organisations we fund. This will present challenges in terms of both the type of need, and the increase in community need for funds.”

2020 marks CLT’s twentieth year, and the trust has distributed over $100 million for charitable purposes during that time. The trust is able to maintain this level of grants budget largely because it has 100 per cent ownership of Pioneer Energy.

RELATED

Local trust creates $2 million COVID-19 response fund

“We are here for the long haul, and we are ready to support our community,” Susan said.

Approved grants for events that have been cancelled due to COVID-19 will still be paid out, Susan said. “Just get in touch with our grants team to discuss.”

CLT’s emergency management fund has also been triggered, she said.

“This initiative, created late last year, is available to help the community to immediately address needs due to a civil emergency. Both councils in our region received a one-off $50,000 grant to support the community in these times. Their welfare teams are hard at work doing as much as they can in the current situation, and this fund should go some way to directly assisting our community members in need right now.”

While the offices are closed, the CLT team is working remotely to continue with business “as normal as possible”.

“We are continuing to accept applications, make decisions, and make payments. We are here to help, and are committed to supporting and looking out for our community and ensuring we are able to respond appropriately. We encourage groups to keep connecting and engaging with us,” Susan said.

In the first instance, please contact the team by email [email protected], CLT said.

Central Lakes Trust is a charitable trust that grants funds for charitable purposes. It is the largest philanthropic trust per capita in the southern hemisphere. 

PHOTO: CLT