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Kia ora tātou, 
In this difficult time, we stand together with our Wellington region communities and the organisations and people who serve them. As we face the challenges of the COVID-19 virus together, we are looking at how best to support our communities currently. Below are our commitments to you and some of the answers to key questions you may have right now.  

Key Questions & Commitments  

Q: We’ve received a grant but our event/project/project can no longer go ahead or has to change in some way?

  • We understand that things are changing rapidly for the organisations we fund, for example, events have been cancelled and community needs are changing. If your organisation has received funding from Wellington Community Trust and your funded initiative cannot go ahead, we won’t be asking for funds to be returned – unless you feel this is the best option. Instead we invite you to reconsider how the funding can best be used to serve our communities in this new environment, and, when you are ready, to have a conversation with us. 

Q: I’m not able to complete or will have to change my accountability reporting, what should I do?

  • We’ll be simplifying our accountability reporting to ask you simply – “How did your work/project/event go?”. There will also be relaxed time frames for reporting – this is low priority right now.  So if you have reporting due and need extra time, please feel free to take another two or three months to complete this, and to contact us informally via email.  

Q: What about applying for funding now? 

  • We will not be reducing our grant budget for the 2020 – 2021 financial year, despite a challenging investment environment. 
  • We commit to listening, to adapting, and to working together for our communities. 
  • In addition, we have simplified our online grant application process to make it easier to apply for funding. While these times are difficult and unprecedented, we will get through this together. 

Q: Will WCT be doing anything specific to support communities to cope with the impact of COVID-19? 

  • We are currently considering this.  However we already have in place our Quick Response Fund for initiatives that need a quick decision and $10k or less in funding, our LIFT fund for supporting capability in the not-for-profit sector and our Community Grants.  We welcome COVID-19 related applications into all of these funds. 

Contacting WCT Currently 

We invite you to contact us to discuss your current grant or to discuss the current needs in your communities to help inform us as to how we can be adaptive and flexible with our granting process over the coming months.  We are of course working from home, so, as we all know that presents a few challenges, but we will do our best to be as responsive as possible.   This means that the most reliable way to contact us right now is via email: 

  • Admin@wct.org.nz – For Fluxx/technical and general eligibility questions. 
  • Chiara@wct.org.nz / Whetu@wct.org.nz (021365628) – For updates about changes to your work/event/project, discussions abut new applications and suggestions for how WCT can respond to emerging community needs.
  • Our office number (04 499 7966) is being diverted to a team member – however this won’t be a full-time line, so please email if possible and we will call you back. 

Kia kaha tātou 
The Wellington Community Trust