Welcome to our June eNewsletter. We hope this finds you all safe and well in what has been an extraordinary couple of months.

Our office opened on the 18th of May and like many organisations and businesses, staff have made a staggered return to the office. We are pleased to report that our office is now back open to visitors. You are welcome to contact the Otago Community Trust team during normal work hours on 0800 10 12 40 if you have any questions around funding or funding timelines and / or arrange a meeting to have a chat.

We are pleased to welcome John Wilson to the position of chair of the Otago Community Trust, taking over from Ross McRobie effective from 1 June 2020. Ross will remain on the board of Otago Community Trust as a trustee until such time that the Minister of Finance makes the new trustee appointments.

In other news, we are pleased to report that the Trust continues to approve much needed COVID-19 funding. To date, close to $600,000 has been awarded to 47 community organisations since the dedicated COVID-19 Response Fund opened in early April.

Although National Volunteer week has recently ended, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers around Otago who collectively enrich their communities. During the evolving COVID-19 pandemic many people have been putting their hands up to help out and it is heart-warming to see.

Please make a note in your calendar that our Annual Public Meeting will be held on the 25th of August and will be in Oamaru this year. The meeting is an opportunity to meet our trustees, staff and other community groups and learn more about how the Otago Community Trust has served the community over the past 12 months.

Finally, I trust you enjoy reading this newsletter and hearing about some of the things we have been involved with in recent months. As always, we encourage community organisations to contact the trust if they have any questions around funding support.

Barbara Bridger, CE