Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa Greetings, greetings, greetings to you all. Otago Community Trust recently hosted its 32nd Annual Public Meeting at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

Below is a quick summary of our recent grant approvals over the last two months.

Otago Community Trust and the Dunedin City Council are pleased to announce the Arts & Culture Capability Fund recipients for 2020.

Dr Michael Stevens, Rebecca Williams, and Raewyn van Gool have been appointed as new Otago Community Trust trustees. The new trustees replace Kate Hazlett, Ross McRobie and John Wilson who are stepping down from the Trust after completing their trustee terms.

During the first lockdown, Mātāwai Consultancy and Dunedin Community Builders surveyed the Ōtepoti Community sector to find out more about challenges and strengths related to their funding.

Philanthropy New Zealand have recently announced that Haimona Waititi and Marcus Akuhata-Brown from Tukaha Consultancy, and Kate Frykberg from Thinktank Consulting are working on a project to determine what will be most helpful to support funders to engage well with Iwi/Māori and to provide funding to support Māori aspirations in a mana-enhancing way.

The Centre for Social Impact brings you a free introductory programme of five 90 minute workshops that will cover grant writing, marketing and communications, innovation, strategy, and wellbeing.

As many New Zealanders are involved with charitable trusts in some way as trustees, beneficiaries of family trusts or volunteers it is important to be aware of the effects of the new Act.

The students of the Hills Cluster schools were excited to show off their Dunedin Hospital rebuild ideas in late October at the Dunedin Community Gallery. The gallery was a buzz with AR & VR solutions, apps, robotics, health & wellbeing solutions, room design ideas and much more.

‘A rewarding project which delivered beyond our expectations’ Rebekah de Jong

Tahakopa couple Don and Eleanor Sinclair, along with Russell Harris from Balclutha have done a splendid job spearheading the Our Hut Heritage Hub Sir Truby King Bridge Track sub-committee, which has been responsible for marking King's association with the Catlins, and the lasting legacy of his decades as a bush pioneer.

Our Grants Manager Sue Stewart was pleased to attend the blessing ceremony at the site of the new St John Ambulance Hub in Cromwell in early September.

The new $40 million lottery fund officially opened on the 28th of October. This is a new fund that has been established to focus on community and social initiatives in the wake of COVID-19.

The charitable sector continues to make a significant contribution to New Zealand’s workforce. More than 140,000 people work full time in the sector, which is equal to 5% of the New Zealand workforce.

The Privacy Act is changing, and the new law will come into force on 1 December 2020. The changes to the Privacy Act will mean that all organisations (including charities) will have greater privacy obligations. Now is a good time to familiarise yourself with the changes.

Otago Community Trust is proud to be part of the inaugural Otago Hall of Fame. Our region is full of bright minds with ideas and skills that put them and Otago on the map.

Congratulations to all the Westpac Otago Business Award finalists announced late last month, particularly Otago Museum, Volunteer South and Central Cinema Incorporated (Central Cinema Alexandra) who have been shortlisted for the Excellence in Not for Profit award which Otago Community Trust is delighted to be sponsoring.