Momentum Waikato Update - November 2020
Published on 6 November, 2020
Nau Mai, Haere Mai.
Our projects continue to roll and all manner of new initiatives are starting to break the surface, check it all out below!
New Te Awamutu College Fund a first for a Waikato school
SIGNED: Craig Yarndley from the Rogers Charitable Trust and Kelvyn Eglinton from Momentum Waikato.
A Waipa high school will enjoy greater financial support thanks to a partnership between its education trust and the Waikato’s community foundation.
The Rogers Charitable Trust was set up in 1995 to support Te Awamutu College and its students. Now the Trust has joined with Momentum Waikato to create a new income stream for the College through donations and investment.
The Te Awamutu College Foundation Fund, established with the transfer of $50,000 from the Rogers Charitable Trust, will be a ’named fund’ within the wider regional endowment managed by Momentum Waikato. While some individuals and families already donate to Momentum for student scholarships, this is the first such initiative for a Waikato school.
Principal Tony Membery welcomes the creation of the Te Awamutu College Foundation Fund.
“Te Awamutu College is very pleased to have this new mechanism for alumni and supporters to donate towards special projects and resources that benefit our students,” says Mr Membery.
Waahine-focused funders back support based in small towns
Waikato not-for-profit groups providing rural literacy and teen mentoring programmes are the recipients of grants from a fund set up two years ago to support the region’s women and girls.
Te Ira Waahine o Waikato-The Waikato Women’s Fund, a giving circle ‘powered’ by Momentum Waikato, announced its 2020 grant round at a gathering of its membership in Hamilton earlier this week.
TARGETED: Reps from Poutama Rites of Passage and Rural Youth and Adult Literary Trust (centre) with the Board of The Waikato Women’s Fund.
Poutama Rites of Passage Trust in Raglan, which applies a Kaupapa Maaori approach to helping young people and their whanau navigate the passage from childhood to adulthood, received $6000 towards their programmes for teenage girls.
The Rural Youth and Adult Literary Trust (RYALT) in Port Waikato also received $6000. Founded around a kitchen table in 2011, RYALT provides free daily literacy classes for adults and teenagers living in isolated rural areas.
Invite: Waikato Intercultural Fund strategy session
Are you committed to building an intercultural Waikato, a region where all cultures are universally respected and empowered?
The Waikato Intercultural Fund invites all such folk to a participatory strategy planning session on Saturday 14 November from 9am to 1pm at the Ruakura Conference Centre, Waikato Innovation Park, 1 Melody Lane, Hamilton. RSVP ESSENTIAL, via the link below.
The Waikato Intercultural Fund now has a foundational Board chaired by Jannat Maqbool (pictured).
We are keen to have the community participate in developing the Fund’s strategy, which will guide the Board over the next five to 10 years.
Secure the Future of Your Group's Mission + Waikato Vital Signs
As previewed in our last issue, we toured our 'Secure the Future of Your Group's Mission' and 'Waikato Vital Signs 2020' seminars around the region in September and October, with community groups leaders joining us in Otorohanga, Te Kuiti, Paeroa, Thames, Matamata, Tokoroa, Huntly and Cambridge.
The turn-out was modest in each place, but many of those who did attend have be in touch since, saying now they understand how our model works they are keen to continue the conversation towards getting a better return from their assets or capital and/or developing synergistic relationships form greater impact.
We are keen to continue to present this message to the community groups across the region, so if you have an audience for our message, please get in contact.
Coalmine collaboration to create Huntly recreation destination
VISION: Charlie Young shows Hon. Nanaia Mahuta and other visitors what's planned.
A former Huntly coalmine is set to become a major recreation and youth development asset for the town, thanks to a collaboration between its new owners, the local youth outdoor recreation trust and the Waikato’s community foundation.
Long-time local business owners Murray and Jennifer Allen of Allen Fabrics Ltd seized the opportunity in early 2018 to buy the former Huntly East opencast coalmine, which neighbours their family farm. Their goal is to restore the lake they used to enjoy visiting when growing up decades ago, as Raahui Pookeka-Huntly's own version of both Lake Karapiro near Cambridge and Lake Rotoroa in Hamilton.
The Kimihia Lakes Community Charitable Trust has been set up to realise this dream, and they are now well on their way with the help of the Huntly Karioi Outdoor Trust and Momentum Waikato.
“A lot of people don’t realise the opencast mine was dug out of the bed of one of the largest lakes in the Waikato, after the mining companies drained most of it in the 1950s” said Murray.
Waikato Regional Theatre moves eight metres to the west
The big news about the Waikato Regional Theatre project came out in the Waikato Times and Stuff a couple of weeks after our last Momentum Waikato Update newsletter.
"An eight-metre shift for Hamilton's new theatre auditorium avoids disturbing an urupā, but means a hotel can no longer fit in the development." Read the full story from 23 September here.
With the architectural plans now amended accordingly, the wider planning process has continued to progress and we are now looking to have work start on site in March.
Meeting the Greatest Needs during COVID-19
We are still running The Greatest Needs Appeal as our response to COVID-19 - a huge thank you again to all those who have donated to date. Te Kuiti Community House Trust are one of the outfits targeting Greatest Needs Appeal funds to where they're needed, as pictured below.
DRY: Raincoats to kids at Centennial Park School.
OPTIONS: Grocery gift cards for Te Kuiti Community House Trust counsellors to give to their clients in need.
WARM: Blankets to Journey Church Food Bank.
As ever, we are happy and proud to be helping generous people get their kind donations to where they are most needed. If you would also like to help out or donate again towards real needs in our region, please visit https://momentumwaikato.nz/donate.
We're now on YouTube
We now have a You Tube channel, stacked with videos previously only on Vimeo and scattered through our social media, check them out and subscribe!
