A new Otago Community Trust (OCT) fund to support young people has released its first round of funding, which includes support for Wānaka-based organisation Kahu Youth.

OCT’s Tamariki & Rangatahi Capability Fund is designed to strengthen the tamariki and rangatahi sector, OCT trust chair Barbara Bridger said, supporting ‘capability development’.

“When we talk about capability development, we are referring to investment in a range of areas which can include professional development, policy reviews, strategic planning activities, enhancing evaluation frameworks and in some instances cultural capability development,” she said.

Earlier this year the trust earmarked $10M for a suite of funds - including the Tamariki & Rangatahi Capability Fund - to support young people across Otago.

It will be rolled out over five years.

See also: ‘Trust earmarks $10M to support Otago’s young people’

Kahu Youth was among the 14 groups to receive funding.

Otago Community Trust community engagement advisor Liz Harburg said the applicants who received funding in this round are all passionate about building the skills and abilities of youth focused organisations in Otago, but many face challenges at a governance level, like succession and long-term strategic planning.

A total of 15 applicants applied and 14 applicants were successful in receiving funding. 

Local youth organisation Kahu Youth, which received $7,406, was the only group from the Upper Clutha to receive funding in this first round. 

The organisation said Covid-19 had been hard on local tamariki and, in turn, it had seen a sharp increase in demand for its services. It has been providing a range of youth services in Wānaka for 15 years and it currently has seven trained youth workers, three of which work full time.

See also: Youth service adapting to growing need

Other fund recipients came from Alexandra and Dunedin, plus two organisations which operate district-wide.

In total OCT approved $104,498 in the first Tamariki & Rangatahi Capability Fund funding round, which in response to feedback from the sector, were approved faster than normal. 

“We hope that by having this quicker turnaround, we can better support organisations to plan and budget for their 2023 activities,” Liz said.

PHOTOS: Supplied