December 2020: New Ngā Kaikōkiri Announced
The J R McKenzie Trust is pleased to announce its most recent funding recipients as follows:
LIFT Youth Employment Charitable Trust
$98,740 over one year
This ‘for youth, by youth’ initiative supports disadvantaged young people aged 16 – 24 years to develop their own businesses. The LIFT programme will provide an incubator hub for rangatahi to develop their technical skills and produce goods; support them with the development of a business model, budgets and marketing strategies; and provide a retail space to promote and display their products. LIFT Business Whanganui is about creating jobs, supporting successful futures, and recovering and rebuilding in the post COVID-19 economy.
Te Peka o Wairarapa
$75,000 over one year
To support a flourishing future, Māori health and other inequities in the Wairarapa must be addressed. The Wairarapa Branch of the Māori Women’s Welfare League (MWWL) works with whānau to provide social support and cultural expertise to the community. More recently, MWWL has worked alongside the health sector to ensure local youth, Iwi Māori and young parents have the best start in life. Led by MWWL, and in partnership with local Iwi and healthcare providers, Te Mana Whakahaere - Ko Wairarapa Tēnei will seek to generate a robust set of healthcare recommendations that can be implemented for the benefit of the local people.
Living Wage Movement Aotearoa NZ
$225,960 over three years
The Living Wage Movement (the Movement) facilitates the organisation of diverse communities around policies and practices that transform lives through a Living Wage, the amount of money needed to survive and participate in society. The Movement calls upon government, employers and all Aotearoa New Zealand to support a Living Wage as one way to reduce inequality and poverty. For eight years, the Movement has made significant inroads, particularly in Auckland and Wellington. The next stage will focus on developing leadership capability and sustainable community organisations in an alliance responsive to vulnerable populations and expanding its impact in Christchurch and the Waikato.
Te Waipuna Puawai Mercy Oasis
$225,000 over two years
Te Waipuna Puawai (TWP) is committed to working with and alongside women, children and families in the Tāmaki area of Auckland. Its key programme is HEART (Healthy Relationships in Tamaki), an innovative community-led movement which aims to reduce family violence and grow healthy relationships. Whether face-to-face, at community events or educational workshops, or online, HEART kōrero fosters a strength-based, resilient approach. TWP is working to achieve the vision the Tāmaki community has set to build community capacity to heal and create change, and to foster healthy whānau relationships.
The Lifewise Trust
$225,000 over three years
Lifewise, an Auckland-based community development organisation, has a vision for a just and inclusive society. Central to Lifewise’s work is its peer-to-peer approach where people with lived experience of issues such as homelessness and exclusion, are facilitated to build their skills to provide support to other people living on the margins. The Merge Community Team forms an integral part of this mahi by providing an inclusive space, advocacy and peer support, and pathway opportunities such as social enterprise. This funding will support the team to embed and build on the previous successes of this approach.
Wesley Community Action
$150,000 over three years
Wesley Community Action is a community development agency with a vision to contribute to a just and caring society. Two new initiatives in Eastern Porirua will be supported with this funding. Whānau#Fluence will facilitate whānau supporting other whānau who are struggling. Vulnerable whānau systems can be transformed when people hear and learn from others with lived experience of ‘making it through.’ Real Talk Movements is a powerful initiative for positive change within whānau systems. The goal is to take this to another level where whānau are supported to lead and extend the benefits of this approach more widely.
ECPAT Child Alert
$120,000 over two years
ECPAT Child Alert acts to uphold the fundamental right for children in Aotearoa New Zealand to be free from all forms of commercial sexual exploitation, from child marriage to underage sex work and more. The funded initiative involves building and activating a frontline specialist network called Te Whāriki Whakaaro o Ngā Kaimahi Taiohi (Te Whāriki) to protect tā tātou tamariki katoa from this form of abuse. Te Whāriki will be made up of community workers and social workers who are dedicated to ending the commercial sexual exploitation of children around the motu.