Council will fund 60 organisations through multi-year contracts across the arts and delivering on social wellbeing, including the citywide network of community centres, our major arts partners delivering Aho Tini, key harm reduction and safety delivery organisations like RespectEd, Take 10 and the Surf Lifesaving service that runs every summer on Oriental and Lyall Bays, and the Wellington Free ambulance service.
These grants will give community groups much-needed certainty about Council’s support going forward says Chair Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons.
“It’s been an ‘up and down’ few years, so providing a stable financial foundation for these organisations means they can focus on the big picture and plan ahead confidently.
“Residents will benefit from the work of these organisations in helping us reduce emissions, by supporting our artists, and by improving social cohesion in Wellington.”
Mayor Andy Foster says collectively these organisations provide tremendous value to the city.
“Their work ensures the heartbeat of Wellington is strong by helping make our city an enjoyable, safe and inclusive city – something that is needed more than ever as we rebound from the pandemic.”
An initiative of Te Atakura – First to Zero, the $250,000 per annum Climate and Sustainability Fund supports communities and businesses to take climate action initiatives that reduce and/or support the reduction of carbon emissions.
In its second round, the new Climate and Sustainability Fund approved funding of $75,750 to ReBicycle to support two pilots aimed at increasing e-bike accessibility and a container workshop for their new site at South Wellington Intermediate School.
The first pilot is an e-cargobike library, which will give Wellingtonians access to a longer trial of an e-cargobike, along with resources and support.
The second is for a low-cost lease-to-buy scheme for converted e-bikes, aiming to make low-cost e-bikes available to people on low incomes, helping to achieve more equitable access to climate change action, and delivering many co-benefits for users and our city.
The new container workshop will provide their volunteers with a sheltered area in which to fix and convert bikes and store parts and equipment, enabling them to expand their work addressing transport poverty and increasing the accessibility of climate-friendly transport options across our community.
These projects tick all the boxes for the criteria in this fund, says Mayor Foster.
“Cost is one key barrier in the uptake of e-bike usage, and this pilot will give low-income families better access to this travel option, with the environmental, financial and health benefits that go with it.
“Upcycling of cycles is another positive element, as it reduces waste by diverting old bikes from landfill, and gives them a new lease of life.”
EkeRua ReBicycle Trustee Hilleke Townsend says it’s all about getting bikes to people who need them, and to get the right bike for each individual.
“E-bikes are a game changer in making cycling accessible for people in all weather, and of all fitness levels, and at all stages of life. For tamariki, having the right colour means they fall in love with their bike. For some adults, they need to get up steep hills or be able to commute in all kinds of weather or carrying kids and cargo. This grant will enable us to make e-bikes more accessible for more people who need them.”
A Kaicycle project has been allocated $94,825 from the Waste Minimisation Seed Fund – Organics Diversion, to establish a new composting facility that will boost their organics processing capacity by 90-100 tonnes per annum, servicing approximately 500 new customers, and to develop a Living Compost Hubs app for customer and compost management.
“This project supports the outcomes from the Para Kai Miramar Food Diversion Trial, feeds into the future Waste Minimisation Management Plan, the objectives of our Zero Waste programme, and encourages food waste collection behaviours and engaging with community groups to enable it,” says Waste Minimisation Manager, Jenny Elliott.
“Kaicycle’s current service is fully subscribed already, and has a growing wait list, and scaling up their composting operations means the creation of new employment opportunities – which this funding will also go towards supporting.”
For a full list of grant recipients from this round, check out the minutes in the meetings section. More information, criteria, funding opportunities, and all funding allocations from previous rounds, please visit the respective funding sections on our website at wellington.govt.nz/funding.