Grants and Funding
Council provides funding for agencies and community groups for projects, activities and events in the community that help support our long-term goals for the district. These can be one-off events or ongoing projects that help make Ashburton District a better place to live, work and play.
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Funding open now
The purpose of the Methven Community Board discretionary fund is to assist projects that maintain and/or enhance residents’ quality of life in the Methven District.
Applications are open for projects that take place within the Methven town boundary.
Funding currently closed
The purpose of the regional events fund is to stimulate inter and intra-regional visitation through funding events that will encourage expenditure missed by international visitor markets.
Events that receive Mid Canterbury Regional Events Fund investment must demonstrate that the event meet the Fund’s criteria.
Applications for this funding round closed at 5pm, Friday 31 March 2023.
The purpose of the Ashburton District Council Trail Maintenance Fund is to assist projects that maintain or enhance cycleway and walkways in the Ashburton District.
Applications for this funding round closed at 5pm, Friday 31 March 2023.
Looking to bring your creative project to life? The Creative Communities Scheme is here to help!
With funding available for a wide range of artistic ventures, from music and dance to visual arts and community workshops, this scheme supports more than 1,800 individuals and groups across the country each year.
Locally, the scheme is administered by the Ashburton District Council and we're looking for arts projects that do at least one of the following:
- Increase opportunities for local participation in the arts.
- Support the diverse artistic expressions of our local communities.
- Enable young people to engage with the arts.
Check out the Creative Communities Funding Brochure for more information about whether your project might be eligible.
Applications for this Creative Communities Scheme funding round closed at 5pm, Friday 31 March 2023.
We administer this grant on behalf of Sport New Zealand.
The purpose of the fund is to help subsidise travel for junior teams participating in regular sport competitions. Sports clubs and school teams with young people aged between 5 and 19 years can apply.
Applications for this grant closed at 5pm, Friday 31 March 2023.
Ashburton District has a range of non-profit groups and organisations that play an integral role in resident’s quality of life through the projects and initiatives that they lead.
Council recognises the importance of community projects to the district and the shared responsibility it has with the community to ensure there are opportunities for community projects to advance. Council provides annual Community Project Grants through a single grant application process held in February of each financial year.
The purpose of the Community Project Grant Scheme is to assist projects that maintain and/or enhance residents’ quality of life in the Ashburton District.
Applications for this funding are currently closed.
Ashburton District has a number of independently operated community libraries throughout the district that play an integral role in residents’ quality of life. Community libraries provide local residents with resources related to information, education, economic regeneration, culture, diversity, and recreation in a public space that enhances their sense of place and belonging.
The purpose of the Community Library Grant Scheme is to support independently operated community libraries with the purchase and preservation of new reading material.
Applications for this funding round are currently closed.
The biodiversity grant is for projects that aim to protect, maintain or restore biodiversity.
The grant is open once a year; in February along with the other Community grants.
Applications for this funding round are now closed.
The Heritage grant is for buildings or items scheduled in Group A or Group B of the Ashburton District Plan. The funding must be used for specialised maintenance such as replacing cladding or fittings that preserve or restore the heritage state of the building or item.
The grant is open twice a year; in February along with the other Community grants, and then again in August.
Applications for this funding round are now closed.
In the past this has been used by groups such as Mid Canterbury Rural Women to provide healthy cooking classes to youth, and for activities such as kite making and other art and craft projects for children at the South Rakaia settlement.
To be eligible, the school holiday programme must cater for children aged between 5 and 14 years.
Applications for this funding round are now closed.
Agency grant is for community organisations to contribute towards operational costs, including rent or salaries. Examples of agencies that have been successful in the past include support services for single parent families, exercise classes for elderly, training and support services including specific youth support and health services.
Applications for this funding round are now closed.
The Community infrastructure grant is for the development or maintenance of memorial and community halls, reserve board infrastructure.
Applications for this funding are currently closed.
The events grant is to support new events and / or to build the capacity of existing events in the district. For an event to be eligible, the event must be smoke-free, promote sun-smart initiatives, and be working towards zero-waste.
Council funding can only be used for promoting the event, traffic management plans, and waste management measures.
Applications for this funding round are now closed.
How it works
You are able to apply for funding from our Community Grants in February each year.
Once the applications are received, Council assesses the applications against the criteria and decides how the funding should be allocated to the grants as part of the Annual Plan. When the Annual Plan is adopted at the end of June, so too, are the grants. This means we will let you know by the beginning of July whether your application was successful or not, with the funds paid out by mid-July.
All projects and events need to occur between the 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024 period to be eligible – for example, you cannot apply in February for an event that is occurring in May that same year, it would need to be occurring post 1 July 2023.
We administer these two funds on behalf of Creative Communities New Zealand and Sport NZ respectively. You can apply for funding from these two funds in March each year. Creative Communities also has a second round in August of each year. For these two grants, if you are successful, you will receive the funds immediately following the committees’ decision. This will usually be 6-8 weeks following the application closing date.
Our grants
To be eligible, all projects and events must be located in the Ashburton District, be available to the wider community, and be organised or run by a non-profit organisation. Individuals can only apply for the Biodiversity and Heritage grants. Creative Communities Scheme also accepts individuals.
We only fund a maximum of 50% of the total project cost; however, voluntary contributions count towards the total – so make sure you explain these well.
Other financial assistance
Council may consider providing grant funding outside the schemes detailed above to assist with community projects considered to be of significant value to the Ashburton District community. These are dealt with on a case by case basis.
Council may consider requests for bridging finance or the guaranteeing of loans from community organisations undertaking projects of significant community benefit.
When applying you will need to include:
- The project's contribution to the achievement of Council's community outcomes
- The project's cost effectiveness
- The reasons why other sources of funding are unavailable
- Prudent fiscal history of the person or organisation making the application
- The ability of the person / organisation applying to repay the loan(s)
Any applications will be analysed by a Council senior financial advisor and / or suitable advisor. The analysis may include the following:
- The financial viability of the project
- The financial position of the person / organisation making the application
- Risks to Council in supporting the project and how these could be managed
- Recommended compulsory conditions
Any bridging finance will be charged interest and any loans or guarantees Council provides may require a personal guarantee.
For further information on Council grants and funding, contact Council by email or phone (03) 307 7700.
If your project doesn’t fit our categories or criteria, or you are in need of more funding, Generosity New Zealand's givUs database provides access to more than 1200 different grants for community organisations covering a wide range of project types from over 700 different funders across New Zealand.
Council provides free access to givUs. You can access it at home through the library page of our website (requires membership login) or in-person at the following locations:
Report forms
All successful applicants are required to report back to Council on how the grant money was spent and whether the project/event was successful. Reporting forms need to be completed by 31 July, or before applying for further funding, whichever is earlier. See the links below for report forms.
If the funds have not been spent when the next funding round occurs and you would like to make another application, please complete the report form as much as possible, and let us know how and when you intend to spend the rest of the grant funds.
For the agency and sport development reporting forms, please contact grants@adc.govt.nz
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