We hope you’re looking forward to using this festive period to connect with friends and whānau. This is our last eNewsletter for the year before we take time to switch off, recharge our batteries and enjoy a well-deserved break with friends and family.

The Sticks 'n Stones grantee video captures how a youth led bullying prevention organisation founded in Central Otago is empowering our young people through ongoing training programmes and regular opportunities to collaborate, learn and lead in the area of bullying prevention. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of bullying in the world, so this korero is critically important for our tamariki and rangatahi.

Young people are building social skills through sports and activities, and giving back to their community, in a Dunedin state housing suburb. This beautiful article in The Daily Encourager profiles the 'mahi' of Dunedin’s Straight Up Trust.

Below is a quick summary of our recent grant approvals for our final round in December 2022.

Every year on December 5, International Volunteer Day, a United Nations-led initiative, is celebrated worldwide. It is an opportunity to champion the impact volunteers have in our communities.

Otago Community Trust works closely with a number of funding bodies across Otago and we endeavour to hold funding clinics in a wide variety of locations around Otago throughout the year. We are pleased to report that the 2023 calendar has now been set with 15 funding clinics scheduled for 2023.

It looks like 2023 will be quite the year of change for the Trust with Teresa and Mel deciding that the time is right for to embark on new challenges. We look forward to recruiting new members to the Otago Community Trust team in early 2023.

Trustees and staff took time to visit several community projects in Dunedin in early December after our final board meeting completing granting activities for 2022.

The Pepa Mā | White Paper provides recommendations for government and philanthropic funders to better support the sector. They draw on the findings of the sector research in 2020 and 2021.

Comvoices is calling on all entities within the community and voluntary sector to take part in their 2022 State of Sector Survey. The survey is released every two years to provide a consistent snapshot of the financial and operational health of this sector.

Otago Science Into Action is inviting applications for the 2023 Otago Participatory Science Platform (PSP) funding round.