Taranaki Foundation grants $127,516 in latest funding round

The sandpit at Stratford Community Childcare Centre is one of the ways outdoor space has been maximised for the children there, thanks to a grant from the Taranaki Foundation.

The Taranaki Foundation has allocated over $120,000 to a diverse range of local groups, individuals and charities in its annual funding round this year.

Josh Hickford, the foundation’s chief executive, says almost $1 million has now been granted by the foundation since 2016.

On Wednesday, November 29, the foundation held an after work event at Te W’anake The Foundry in Hāwera to celebrate the recent funding round.

Guests heard from a range of speakers on the night including Taranaki Foundation chairman Phil Hinton, who said the foundation’s growth was testament to the groundwork laid over the past eight years.

He said the foundation had a clear focus on understanding and knowing the communities served by it, and welcomed two new trustees to the team, Selwyn Metcalfe and Aaron Foley, who had been appointed at the foundation’s AGM earlier that day.

“We are thrilled and grateful Selwyn and Aaron have agreed to join us as Taranaki Foundation trustees. The community connections and fresh perspectives they will bring to their role will help us to accelerate our efforts to advance that vision of making Taranaki an even more prosperous and inclusive place for all.”

Other speakers on the night included Matt Inns of the Patea Volunteer Fire Brigade, the brigade received $5000 funding towards the replacement of Patea Volunteer Fire Brigade’s response ute in 2022.

Another guest speaker was Christina Lorth of Building Wellness Taranaki, which received $2000 to help support the expansion of its programme into South Taranaki in 2022, and Alice Arnold of St Mary’s Community Garden which received grants in 2021 and 2022 through The Tindall Foundation for a pilot programme.

Tayla Steele, a recent scholarship recipient, spoke at a Taranaki Foundation event in Hawera on Wednesday, November 29.

Recent scholarship recipient Tayla Steele was another speaker. She received a scholarship from the Rudi Milesi Fund in 2022 and says it has been her dream to become a Vet since she was four - a dream she is now closer to realising thanks to the foundation.

Several Stratford based projects have benefited from Taranaki Foundation grants this year, through the Taranaki Hauora Fund with Taranaki Foundation.

Grants include $2000 to Stratford Community House Trust for operating costs, $1250 to the Stratford Shakespeare Trust to support the collaborative production of a Shakespeare performance by the arts groups in the community, $750 to the Taranaki Peer Support Network Group to enable members to independently plan to get together using community-based transport, $2000 to Stratford Golf Club for free professional coaching for kids in the district and $4000 to Stratford Community Childcare Centre to help maximise their outdoor space for the adventure and learning of Tamariki all year round.

Ilona Hanne is a Taranaki-based journalist who covers breaking and community news from across the region. She has worked for NZME since 2011.