Central Lakes Trust (CLT) approved just over $1 million in grants to charitable organisations at their June board meeting.
Among the 19 grantees is Eduk8 Charitable Trust who received $57,780 to deliver driver educational initiatives in the region. Eduk8 has been operating throughout New Zealand since 2007, and established their Otago Regional Trust in 2020. They are currently setting up a Central Otago Trust to serve this region specifically.
Working with NZ Courts, NZ Police, FENZ, St John Ambulance, the Queenstown District Council, and community volunteers, Eduk8 delivers Te Ara Tutuki Pai – The Right Track (TRT), a driver education programme for young at-risk drivers and offenders. The May 2024 TRT programme was the fourth programme offered in the Queenstown Lakes area.
One of the attendees commented on completion: “It was very eye opening. The amount of things I learned and realised. Really put me in my place. It has changed my entire perspective. It's not just on drink driving, but also distracted driving and anything along the lines of impaired driving.”
While the TRT’s main focus is driver rehabilitation, the course aims to educate, motivate, challenge, inspire, and inform to support attendees make better decisions on and off the road.
CLT Chief Executive, Barbara Bridger, said: “Supporting community organisations which address social problems or improve health outcomes for the people in our region is core to what the CLT does. We are very pleased to see TRT offered in the Queenstown Lakes region and to support the work they do.”
Two significant grants were made at the same meeting. St John Ambulance received $267,435 to support the acquisition of a new ambulance that will be based out of Queenstown to provide backup cover for much of the Central Lakes region, and Mana Tahuna received a $225,000 grant to support their environmental and social service activities.
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