What we Do
The Community Development team at Venture Southland works alongside community groups and organisations with a number of projects and initiatives at both a regional and local level.
Our main aim is to help communities to help themselves.
Southland is made up of a number of small, unique communities. These consist of a diverse range of organisations and groups providing a variety of essential community services and leisure opportunities. These are essential to the good quality of life for which Southland is renowned.
Recent years have seen a number of changes, including:
- changes in demographics, population and the general make up of communities
- changing land use i.e recent increase in dairying
- decreases in the number of volunteers
- increased pressure of local communities to maintain local facilities, infrastructure and their way of life.
As communities have had to change and adapt, our role has been to work alongside them providing a variety of services.
Please contact the Community Development Planner for your local area if you would like to discuss your community project or initative. You can find information about your Community Development Planner by clicking here.
How Can We Assist Your Community Group?
We can assist your Group with…
Project Planning
- we have a lot of experience with a diverse range of projects. We can guide your group through the planning of a project, right through to the implementation stage
- we also facilitate public planning forums to assist local communities and Community Boards to identify and develop local projects. We call these Community Concept Plans
- at a regional level, we access central government funding which allows us to undertake pilot projects to enhance the provision of services to local communities.
Assistance with Set Up
- if your group would like to become a legally incorporated body, like a Trust or a Society – we can assist you with this process, including the preparation of relevant documents etc.
Project Development and Assessment
- if your group already is operating a facility or a programme, we might be able to assist you by preparing a Management or Operation Plan. These can help to refocus your Group’s objectives as well as identify new directions and opportunities.
Funding
- sorry, we don’t have any funds to give to your group, but we can help you access funding from a number of organisations. For more information, please click on ‘Funding’ in the left hand menu.
Promotion
- we can help you promote your project or group by linking you to our free Southland events calendar. We also have other media channels available for community use.
Facilitation
- we don’t start or drive projects, rather we see our role as project facilitators. This means that we will put you in touch with key agencies, organisations, funders etc relevant to your project.
Advocacy
- we provide strong advocacy for local communities to ensure the needs of Southlanders are recognised and addressed.
For examples of projects which we have been involved with, please have a look at the ‘Case Studies’ and ‘Projects’ section of the website.