NZCT WELCOMES MULTI-YEAR FUNDING
NZCT welcomes multi-year funding change
The New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) has welcomed the Government’s decision to introduce multi-year grant funding for class 4 gaming societies as of 15 September 2011. NZCT Chairman Peter Dale says the change (which was announced yesterday) is a positive move which will help grant applicants wishing to implement long term plans.
“Right from the start, I thought the Department of Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy saw the common sense of this approach, and I thank him for making it happen,” says Mr Dale.
Mr Dale says multi-year funding also enables gaming societies to make substantial contributions to community assets and facilities.
“NZCT is one of the largest funders of amateur sport in New Zealand,” says Mr Dale. “We know sport helps create healthy communities, so we support a wide range of sports organisations across the country. Unfortunately, in our experience, after paying rent, utilities and affiliation fees, most sports groups don’t have a lot of money left over to fund coaching or provide development programmes. Most depend on grant funds for these ‘added extras’.
“Now that multi-year funding has been approved, societies will be able to give successful grant applicants a better sense of surety that they can plan and deliver long term programmes, like coaching and development. It also means NZCT will be able to fund well organised groups who are outcome focused and offer long-term benefits to their community.”
Mr Dale says NZCT is committed to making legacy grants which help local councils provide community sports facilities. He says multi-year funding will allow NZCT to spread the distribution of large grants over a longer period, enabling it to commit to significant projects, while still approving smaller, grassroots applications along the way.
“Our pub gaming model is pretty unique and successful, and although we are yet to see the details around multi-year funding, it looks like this change will make the model even better,” says Mr Dale. “In most countries, gambling is purely for commercial gain. But New Zealand is one of only four countries in the world with a ‘community owned’ model for pub gaming, where a minimum of 37.12 percent of net proceeds are returned to the community.
“Funds raised via pub gaming machines are always put to good use, and in the case of NZCT, they help worthwhile sports and community groups provide valuable programmes which help make New Zealand a happy, healthy place to live.”
