Ray White Whangarei and Tutukaka have just announced the recipients of their first round of We Can Help With That community funding – which has seen 8 groups benefit from the team’s unique funding initiative.
The Ray White Whangarei and Tutukaka teams, who are already active supporters of their local community, set up their “We Can Help With That” fund to encourage increased access to opportunities for locals – with a vision to create a community of active people, resilient communities and sustainable environments through supporting projects that focus on people, participation and places.
We Can Help With That funding comes directly from the Ray White Whangarei and Tutukaka team members who set aside a percentage of funds from every property sale and lease. The money is then distributed up to 4 times per year to the community through grants which can be applied for by eligible community organisations, schools, groups, charities, causes and individuals throughout the Whangarei District.
“While the decisions on allocating funds are always challenging (as there are simply so many worthy causes) it is an inspiring process to be part of,” said John Monteith. “Whether it’s a small amount or large amount… we love facilitating opportunities for positive change in our communities.”
“We weren’t entirely sure what sort of applications we would receive in Round 1 of our funding release, but we were blown away by the number and sheer diversity of the applications that did come in… One standout, and inspiring application was from a local teacher who wanted to take her students on an artistic adventure and have them learn alongside local artists. Knowing that the tools and equipment are not always available through school resources, that the course costs may be prohibitive for some parents, and being tactile sensitive herself she and her students put together a stunning proposal to attend The Quarry Arts Centre’s Art Discovers Program – a visual education program to inspire and educate the next generation of artists. We were happy to see these students had a wonderful experience and opportunity to experience art and, learning from them and sharing skills… and the photos of the kids enjoying the program (and thank you letters) just put another smile on our faces!”, said John Monteith. “Other submissions were equally as unique – including the local Whangarei Toy Library who simply needed a modern light-weight sign (to save the volunteers from lugging a heavy wooden sign outside each day – of which they sent us video footage)
Other recipients in the first round of funding include:
- Forget Me Not Adult Day Centre (Northland Disabled Charitable Trust) who provide a daycare service for adults of all ages including those who are young with disabilities, the elderly and frail, those with memory loss, head injuries and/ or other disabilities. With a focus on inclusion and engagement, they provide a range of activities for their clients to enjoy – including running regular art classes and needed art supplies to support this program.
- Opuawhanga Tennis Club have been a part of their local community for over 80 years. They strive to make tennis accessible to all in their community and rely on fundraising, donations. Their members have also worked hard on making grants stretch by volunteering their own time to reduce maintenance and labour costs. New nets were needed for their recently resurfaced tennis courts, and we were delighted to assist them with this.
- Raurimu Avenue School a small school of only 75 students who proudly host an annual celebration of performing arts which involves invitational performance groups from Primary Schools within Whangarei. They required funding for the staging needed to host this non-competitive event which celebrates schools, whanau and communities and the performing arts which we granted them funding for.
- Bike Northland who provide free cycle skills training to school children around Whangarei and needed bike helmets to ensure that students could learn how to ride in a fun and safe way – so $1,000 was donated to purchase these.
- Bream Bay Community Patrol who needed to upgrade vital safety equipment needed to control traffic at road accident scenes and provide safety for passing motorists so funnds were allocated to these purchases.
- Coastguard Tutukaka were seeking a signage upgrade to provide higher visibility to water users and important emergency contact information.
- The Whangarei Steam & Model Railway Club who operate vintage steam and diesel trains for the education and enjoyment of the public and needed tools for their volunteers to use to complete routine maintenance and restoration work.
Round 2 of the funding is now open, and applicants can check out the eligibility, download an application form and find our more at wecanhelpwiththat.co.nz
“It’s a local fund for locals. We encourage everyone to check out the site to see if they’re eligible – we’re all about supporting local individuals and those representing non-profit community groups, charities, cultural, welfare agencies, educational organisations and amateur sporting organisations throughout the Whangarei District,” said Co-Director Vanessa McKenzie.
Read more about the first round recipients on the Ray White Whangarei website page, or Ray White Whangarei & Tutukaka Facebook Page.