South Alive warns of well-being impacts from funding cut
"Where are hearing consistently the challenges funders are facing, and to make such a large drop in community funding in an already stretched environment is incredibly challenging."
A community-led South Invercargill organisation fears for the impact on community wellbeing projects if the Invercargill City Council opts to slash funding.
The Invercargill City Council plans to cut $200,000 from its Community Wellbeing Fund as the council attempts to reduce costs.
The Community Wellbeing Fund was initially established in 2020 and has had a budget of $565,000 each year.
The council is planning to reduce that by $200,000 as part of its 2025-26 Annual Plan to get the rate rise down to a recommended 9.47%.
South Alive is one of the many organisations that receive funding. It is an urban-rejuvenation project, led by the community, with the goal of “identifying the best possible future for South Invercargill.
South Alive Community Development and Operations Manager Courtney Ellison has expressed concern about the impacts that might flow from the council cutting wellbeing funding.
“As an organisation working in an area of high deprivation, we understand the financial pressures our community is under and understand the complexity of balancing rates increases.
“However, the Community Wellbeing Fund is a fund valued by many organisations, including ourselves, to support communities and their wellbeing.”
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South Alive believed that while the $200,000 reduction in funding was little, in regard to the council’s overall $120m budget, it was significant for the organisations that received funding.
“We are hearing consistently the challenges funders are facing, and to make such a large drop in community funding in an already stretched environment is incredibly challenging.”
Ellison pointed out the council’s Community Wellbeing Fund was already oversubscribed before slashing $200,000 from it.
She said as an example of the over-subscription, in the 2023/24 financial year, organisations that were successful in receiving funding requested $887,832 but only received $498,899, and a further $224,117 in funding applications were declined completely.
In the current financial year, the pressures have been even greater, Ellison said, with over $1 million in applications received and $421,690 allocated.
“The last time [South Alive] applied late last year, we received significantly less than requested in our most recent application, with the reason being cited as the funding constraints.
“We don’t say this to criticise the decision-makers sitting on that fund, we appreciate the very positive feedback they had about South Alive and recognise the challenging decisions they had to make.
“But if the funding is to be cut even further, those funding decisions are only going to be even more challenging.”
Ellison said South Alive recognised the funding constraints and the need for South Alive to sustain itself by taking steps to increase its own revenue.
South Alive has also streamlined its budgets, given the economic pressures, so it is not having to ask as much from funders, Ellison said.
“But still, in this upcoming financial year, we are looking at a 20% shortfall in funding, and I’m sure we are not unique in the community sector facing such funding constraints.
“We do really urge you to reconsider to retain the current levels of the Community Wellbeing Fund,” Ellison told councillors.
She added in South Alive’s submission that one of the council’s purposes - as part of the Local Government Act - was to promote social, economic, environmental, and cultural wellbeing of communities.
“By providing some financial support to community organisations through the Wellbeing Fund, you are enabling communities to make these improvements to the community’s overall wellbeing, for a far smaller cost than if council were to drive those initiatives themselves.”