The Queenstown Lakes district received $346,915 from a total of $11.5M grants from the Otago Community Trust (OCT) in the past year, but the grants budget for next year won’t be as generous.

OCT chair John Wilson said it has been a challenging year for the trust’s investment portfolio, which reported a negative return for the year of -1.2 per cent due to market volatility around COVID-19.

“COVID-19 has had a huge impact on almost every area of our lives and continues to significantly impact our communities. However, through this we have seen just how incredibly strong, dedicated and compassionate the people of Otago are,” John said.

To safeguard the trust’s assets, the grants budget for the 2020-21 year has been provisionally set lower than recent years, at $9m. This includes a COVID-19 response fund allowance of $2M. 

The past year’s grants were outlined in the OCT’s annual report for the year ended March 31, 2020. The Trust’s annual public meeting was postponed due to alert level two restrictions, OCT communications and marketing coordinator Mel McAtamney told the Wanaka App.

Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust is one of 25 Upper Clutha organisations to receive grants. The Wanaka native plant nursery’s expansion project has increased the capacity of the nursery by at least 50 per cent, allowing Te Kākano to engage with the community in more planting sessions, further contributing to habitat restoration and the diversity of the ecosystem in the Upper Clutha basin. The OCT supported this expansion project with a $7,800 grant.

Upper Clutha grants from the past year over $10,000 went to:

Challenge Wanaka Sports Trust $15,000 

Hawea Flat School $10,950 

Kahu Youth Trust $25,000 

Snow Sports NZ Inc $52,600 

Te Kura O Take Kārara $10,000

The Tarras Community Church Charitable Trust $50,000 

Wanaka Primary School $32,945 

Wanaka Search and Rescue Inc $11,000 

Warbirds Over Wanaka Community Trust $15,000 

Winter Games NZ Trust $50,000

Grants below $10,000 went to: 

Aspiring Athletes Club Inc $5,000 

Mt Aspiring College $9,380 

Queenstown-Lakes District Alpine Community Development Trust $1,500 

Disc Golf Wanaka Inc $4,000 

Holy Family Catholic School $7,900 

Lake Wanaka SouNZ Inc $5,000 

New Zealand Snowsports Instructors Alliance $2,500 

QLDC - New Year's Eve Celebration (ex Summerdaze) $5,000 

Routeburn Dart Wildlife Trust $6,000 

Southern Lakes Arts Festival Trust $5,500 

Te Kakano Aotearoa Trust $7,800 

Upper Clutha Historical Records Society $2,340 

Wanaka Community Toy Library Inc $1,500 

Wanaka Golf Club Inc $5,000 

Wanaka Rowing Club Inc $6,000 

PHOTOS: Supplied