Canon Announces Winners of 2021 Oceania Grants Programme

After a record number of applications, Canon New Zealand are proud to announce the winners of the 2021 Canon Oceania Grants. The three winning initiatives are working towards positively impacting communities throughout New Zealand whilst creating sustainable solutions and protecting the environment.

Over the past 15 years, the Oceania Grants have supported over 75 schools, not-for-profits and community groups throughout New Zealand and Australia.

New Zealand’s winning projects will help researchers to understand native female parāoa, improve the accessibility of sanitary items and awareness of period poverty, and restore the biodiversity of native forest.

Kim Conner, Chief Executive Officer of Canon New Zealand, says the number of applications reflects how New Zealand communities and organisations have been significantly impacted over the past 18-months. She says it is more important than ever for us to get behind them.

“At Canon, we are guided by the Kyosei philosophy, which means living and working together for common good. The three winners of this year’s grants not only embody this philosophy but are true leaders in their fields, with 2,455 votes cast – the public thought the same”

“We’re inspired by the continuous work of organisations striving to make a positive contribution to society, despite the tough economic and personal circumstances created for many communities and organisations in recent times,” says Conner.

New Zealand 2021 Oceania Grant winners, receiving a $5,000 grant ($2,500 in cash, $2,500 Canon products) are as below:

Environment: Far Out Ocean Research Collective (Paihia)

Far Out Ocean Research Collective’s mission is to foster knowledge and conservation of oceanic environments through research and education. This grant will be used to support their research of female parāoa/sperm whales in Aotearoa.

“We are very grateful for Canon’s support, especially in these difficult times. The grant will support our photo-identification work in the first dedicated surveys of female sperm whales in Aotearoa. The identification of individuals based on the unique marks on their tails is a cornerstone of our research and helps us understand population size, movements, and social structure. We are thrilled to be able to reveal some of the mysteries of these enigmatic animals and to share our findings with the wider community” says Jochen Zaeschmar, Founder of Far Out Ocean Research Collective.

Community: The Period Place (Auckland & Nationwide New Zealand)

The Period Place is a period advocacy charity with the goal of eliminating period poverty by 2030; in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The charity will use its grant to allow them to facilitate greater learning opportunities in their education classes.

“We are so bloody stoked to win the Cannon Oceania Community Category Award. Being a charity that focuses on supplying vulnerable communities with period products, it's hard to spend money on things we need internally for ourselves. We know that the donations we receive can give people so many opportunities by supporting their periods, so we often end up utilising things from our own homes for the office, like we have been with our current printer for the last few years! Having a printer that is fit for purpose for our team, means we'll be able to provide better resources for our Impact Partners, and the individuals we support around Aotearoa,” says Danika Revell, Cofounder and CEO of The Period Place.

Education: Wakatipu Reforestation Trust (Queenstown)

Wakatipu Reforestation focuses on the protection and restoration of the native biodiversity of the Wakatipu Basin through revegetation projects, collaboration, education, and advocacy.

“The Canon grant will enable us to continue to support and grow our ‘Educate for Nature’ program, said Jo Smith, WRT Education and Outreach Officer, Wakatipu Reforestation. This will greatly assist us in the delivery of our hands-on environmental learning allowing us to connect children and community with nature. We do this by developing conservation knowledge and skills enabling people to get involved and make a difference. Thanks, Canon, for playing a huge part in helping us to reach our goal of ensuring that every child within the Wakatipu basin can be a part of our shared journey in restoring our local biodiversity,” says Jo Smith, WRT Education and Outreach Officer for Wakatipu Reforestation Trust.

For more information about Canon Oceania’s Grants Program, please visit: https://www.canon.co.nz/about-canon/community/grants

ENDS

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About Canon

Canon is a world-leading imaging brand that actively inspires and enables people to achieve more than they ever thought they could through products, services and solutions for business and consumers. New Zealand’s most trusted camera brand1, Canon has ranked among the top-five US patent recipients for the past 34 years and had global revenues of more than $US36 billion in 2019. Also part of the Canon Group in New Zealand are Canon Finance New Zealand, and Converga.

For more information, visit www.canon.co.nz, https://www.facebook.com/CanonNewZealand, www.instagram.com/canon.nz,

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