A $25,000 grant for youth programme OneChance New Zealand was among more than $370,000 granted to the Rotorua community by The Southern Trust.

OneChance NZ manager Alan Tane Solomon says $5,000 will assist with a salary with the remaining $20,000 going towards the purchase of a minivan.

'Having an OneChance minivan will mean much less stress for programme managers - and in some extreme cases that they won't have to borrow vehicles from friends to ensure youth can attend programmes.” He says.

'OneChance is very grateful to The Southern Trust for the grant. He is confident OneChance will shortly be able to confirm a further $27,000 in funding to purchase the van ahead of next year when they are extending their programmes significantly.”

Between April last year and March 2018 OneChance has assisted 97 students to attain 1,441 Level 3 credits across seven NZQA Units Standards in the Social Services sector and more than 500 people have attended their community events.

Having a minivan will make it easier for OneChance to build upon this work as they will be assured they can take youth to activities around Rotorua and the country whatever the weather.

'Partnerships with venues across New Zealand provide funds to assist community organisations the length and breadth of the country,” says the Southern Trust CEO and trustee Karen Shea.

'Our policy is to return 95% of the proceeds raised in an area back to the same area, with the remaining 5% used for national purposes.”

'The Trust is consistently receiving more applications for funding than there are funds available in the majority of areas.”

Community organisations from Rotorua can apply for funding from The Southern Trust. The Trust continually reviews applications with most processed within 20 working days. Requests larger than $30,000 are reviewed at monthly Board of Trustees meetings.

'Our team can easily advise on application criteria, which can save organisations a lot of time,” says Karen.

Community organisations considering applying for funding should firstly call The Southern Trust funding team on 0800 4 CHARITY (0800 42 42 74).