Junior Players Tāmaki Makaurau Fund Makes Positive Difference For Young Aucklanders

Tamariki and rangatahi struggling to play sport due to financial hardship have received a much needed boost of $536,000. Thanks to the Junior Players Tamaki Makaurau Fund, 51 organisations have financial support to help them impact around 10,000 participants across Auckland

Managed by Aktive in collaboration with community delivery partners CLM Community Sport, Harbour Sport, Sport Auckland and Sport Waitākere, the one-off fund was designed to support organised sport in the region, with a strong focus on young people.

Aktive CE Dr Sarah Sandley explains how the fund was targeted to make a positive difference.

"Auckland has faced additional COVID-19 lockdowns, which has significantly impacted the organised sport sector, specifically how it operates, being sustainable and retaining members. With the input of our community delivery partners, this fund was established to support tamariki and rangatahi to continue to be active through organised sport, particularly where cost is identified as a barrier."

The fund covered costs such as membership/access fees, vouchers or multi-code memberships, essential sports equipment and clothing. It was allocated on regional and local bases, and distributed on merit to organisations that demonstrated they were best placed to meet the needs of tamariki and rangatahi from higher deprivation households.

Specific contributions were made from CLM Community Sport and Harbour Sport, with their investments deployed in the South Auckland and North Harbour areas respectively.

A total of 149 applications across 30 codes was received, with an overall requested sum of more than $2 million. The maximum amount that an individual organisation could apply for was $20,000 with all applications reviewed extensively. Click here to view successful applicants.

Dr Sandley adds: "Our vision is to make Auckland the world’s most active city. Along with the Working Together Fund, the development of this fund was based on sector wide surveys and valuable feedback which enabled us to determine the best ways to support the Auckland sport and recreation sector, particularly the region’s young people.

"It brings together investment from Sport New Zealand, Aktive, CLM Community Sport, Harbour Sport, Sport Auckland and Sport Waitākere - and we would like to thank our partners for supporting these additional grants for the region and making a positive difference for the sector and young people in Tamaki Makaurau."

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