A $25,000 grant from the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust will help protect Rotorua's most vulnerable children by giving people the skills to identify child abuse, and the confidence to take action if they suspect it.
The trust has given the grant to Child Matters to carry out courses in Rotorua which will help both people working with children, as well as members of the public.
It is one of 17 organisations that received a total of $180,000 in the June round of grants.
Child Matters is a charitable trust that works throughout New Zealand to prevent child abuse.
Chief executive Jane Searle said they had been working with the Rotorua Trust for more than a decade and without the trust's support they wouldn't be able to run the courses they did.
"It shows great commitment to this area," she said.
Mrs Searle said New Zealand did not require people working with children to undertake training in recognising how to prevent or respond to child abuse.
"The very people who are in the best positions to help protect children have traditionally received no training in how to do so. This is the need that Child Matters' training has been developed to meet.
"We often hear these people say the way they work is now different because of what they have learned at the courses, and that's what we are about."
The funding will allow Child Matters to offer two free public workshops in September - one around identifying and responding to vulnerability and child abuse and the other focused on developing a child protection policy.
It will also subsidise the cost of two five-day child protection studies programmes which aim to equip professionals with the necessary skills to identify child abuse earlier and the knowledge to report appropriately.
Mrs Searle said through the courses the Rotorua community would be strengthened with more professionals and volunteers trained in child protection, increased awareness of how to keep children safe, and ultimately a community that was better equipped with knowledge and confidence around child abuse issues.
Trust chairman Stewart Edward said the work Child Matters did was crucial to helping prevent child abuse, and the trust was pleased to help fund the prevention work.
"Sadly, child abuse is as prevalent in Rotorua as it is in many other communities. While being able to spot the symptoms of abuse is one thing, knowing what action to take is another.
"The Child Matters courses provide attendees practical skills to enable something to be done about cases of abuse - helping to protect our young and most vulnerable."
Other grants awarded in the June funding round are:
Rotorua Lakes Council - $2500
Royal NZ Ballet - $10,000
Linton Park Community Centre - $7000
St Chads Community Centre - $ 25,000
St Luke's Anglican Church - $10,000
Te Aratu Trust - $10,000
JPC - Role Model Students -$1300
Parenting Place $15,000
RLHS - Role Model Students -$1000
Te Kura Te Koutu - $10,000
WHHS - Role Model Students - $3000
Rotorua Kartsport Trust - $10,000
Rotorua Singlespeed Society - $5000
Sulphur City Steam Rollers - $5000
Talklink Trust - $20,000
Rotorua Community Hospice Trust - $20,000
