The penultimate round of funding for mental wellbeing initiatives to boost Southern Lakes communities opens on November 6.

Run by Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing Group, the Connecting Communities fund supports community-led activities and events across Cromwell, Queenstown, Wānaka, and Te Anau which encourage people to connect, look after themselves and each other, and have fun.

Eligible not-for-profit organisations and groups can apply for up to $1,000 to assist with funding their activity or event and applications need to be in by November 16.

Activities or events need to positively engage with the local community; support mental wellbeing; aligning with one or more of the Five Ways to Wellbeing and Te Whare Tapa Wha; and be delivered in Queenstown, Wānaka, Cromwell or Te Anau/Fiordland.

Information on how to apply is online: Wellbeing Support in Southern Lakes

The government funding is coming to a close, and Te Hau Toka Group chairperson Adell Cox said the team is particularly keen to hear some ideas from communities that have not yet applied.

“After this, we only have one more round in April next year. We would like to think the funding has supported social connections, mental wellbeing and resilience right across our local communities in the Southern Lakes region.”

Adell said the team also appreciated the vast range of innovative ideas put forward throughout the funding rounds and welcomed previous applicants and recipients to reapply.

“Our communities face different challenges at different times of the year. The lead-up to Christmas is often a very stressful time. There’s the extra expenses; it can be busy, and it can be lonely. Each community is best placed to know what they need and how they can support each other,” said Adell.

The previous Connecting Communities funding round in June 2023 saw a record $87,000 distributed across 92 initiatives in Cromwell, Queenstown, Wānaka, and Te Anau.

Recipients included the St John Health Shuttle establishing a new friendship drive in Cromwell, a wellbeing tree for Goldfields School, holiday art workshops for children during the school holidays, a Mums 4 Mums Cromwell night out, Volunteer South celebration events in Cromwell and Alexandra and a range of Matariki activities across the region.