2 August 2013

Appeal Trust grants nearly $600,000 to Canterbury regional clubs

Rangiora Showgrounds, Canterbury Plunket Society and Christchurch Target Shooting Association, can repair and rebuild their earthquake-damaged facilities quicker thanks to $570,000 granted by the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust today.

Around 15 different organisations, associations and networks use these regional facilities for wider community benefit.

• Rangiora Showgrounds is granted up to $300,000 to repair its grandstand and the changing and showering facilities underneath, so it can reopen for use by rugby and football players, schools cross-country, equestrian and other events, and the annual A&P show. NZCT has kindly contributed $77,136 to this grant.
• Canterbury Plunket Society is granted up to $210,000 towards building a permanent, purpose-built facility that it will own. Plunket will be able to better help the 92% of all new babies born in Canterbury that their services help today, and offer its full range of family services.
• Christchurch Target Shooting Association is granted up to $60,000 towards repair of its indoor range and meeting room, so it can again be used by seven indoor clubs, ParaFed shooters, secondary school shooting teams and other community groups. NZCT has kindly funded this grant.

Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trustee Dr Rod Carr says “each of these groups provides regional services for their members as well as the wider community, and they’ve been struggling with the cost of rebuilding their core infrastructure. The services they provide help make up the fabric of Canterbury society and Trustees hope this funding will help them to move forward faster.”

Debbie Cameron, Manager of the Rangiora Showgrounds, reports that the Northern A&P Association (Rangiora Showgrounds) committee was delighted to receive the news of the funding and wish to thank the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal Trust and NZCT. “Rangiora Showgrounds is one of the few Associations that are fortunate to have a grandstand and have always appreciated that asset; however it was only once the grandstand was closed that the real value of that asset became apparent. The Showgrounds is used by many groups as a community based facility and the closing of the grandstand and its facilities has limited that use. The committee look forward to getting underway with the necessary repairs and strengthening of the grandstand so the facility can be made available to the community once again.”

Canterbury Plunket Society, Area President Liz McClure says, “Since the loss of our building in Oxford Tce our Area Office staff has been without a home. We were lucky enough to be able to move some of our services into temporary premises to accommodate the Area team, but this grant will allow us to build a new Area Office and be able to move our other services home. We are tremendously grateful for this support and thank the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trustees for their help.”

Christchurch Target Shooting Association President Dave Stackhouse says, "We are looking forward to reinstating our facility to a safer, more resilient earthquake standard. This will ensure we have future security and a platform for future growth within our sport. Non profit sports groups such as ours are essential contributors to Christchurch's overall recovery post quake".

The Christchurch Earthquake Appeal has approved over $62 million for projects, while a further $8 million has been pledged for specific purposes and projects. Projects funded to date include: restoration of the Arts Centre; iPads and software for primary school children in the eastern suburbs; the Re:START mall; Isaac Theatre Royal; St John emergency equipment; the Temporary AMI Stadium; repairing sports fields and netball/tennis courts; and water attractions at the new aquatic facility for the eastern suburbs. A full list of projects funded by the Appeal Trust is available here.

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About the Appeal Trust
The Christchurch Earthquake Appeal was launched by Prime Minister John Key on 27 February 2011 and is the Government’s official, global fundraiser for the recovery effort. To date it has raised more than $100 million in pledged and received funds. The Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust is responsible for allocating the funds raised to support earthquake recovery initiatives. The Trust is an independent charity, registered under the Charities Act of New Zealand and is governed and operated by the Trustees independent of government.