Making a difference for our communities
We're excited to be able to contribute financially to a range of community initiatives through our Christchurch Airport Community Fund.
How does it work?
We are a large organisation, but what we do is about much more than us. The communities we serve are top of mind in what we do as overt cheerleaders for the city, region and South Island.
When we support an organisation, event or group, we look for direct benefit to its community members.
Our Community Fund is focused on:
- sustainability – looking after our place (we're considered world class in our sustainability endeavours and successes),
- safety and wellbeing – looking after our communities, and
- innovation – we're not scared to think ‘out of the box’ about something and make a plan to deliver it.
We gift Community Fund donations twice a year. When we assess applications, we look for reflection of the three focus points above. We don’t simply fund running costs or wages, but want to make things happen which make a difference in one of these three areas.
The Community Fund is a combination of Christchurch Airport’s financial contribution and donations collected in wishing wells around the airport. Now the border has reopened, we look forward to visitors dropping their coins into the wells. Sometimes we convert a dozen or more currencies!
The current round of applications has opened and will close at midday 9 March 2023.
How to apply
If you have an idea, a plan, a group or charity which is thinking about the things we think about, please complete our Community Fund Application Form and send it with supporting documentation to communityfund@cial.co.nz.
Our latest recipients
Our most recent round of grants include the following groups and projects:
- Biological Husbandry Unit Organics Trust to provide items required to teach organic agroecological farming methods
- City of Christchurch Cadet Unit to purchase specialised compasses for field and mountain navigation
- Graeme Dingle Foundation Canterbury for Project K, which supports, trains and mentors youth at risk of disengaging academically and socially
- Kairos Food Rescue for additional storage in the Free Store for food rescued from cafes and made available to people who need it
- No. 17 (City of Christchurch) Air Training Corps to support Exercise Takahe, a week-long adventure activity for New Zealand’s cadet forces
- Rolleston Community Patrol to provide an ECG and training for the volunteers who keep their community safe
- Safe Place Foundation to develop the scheme providing safe places for people to access if they feel unsafe while in the community
- Youth Search and Rescue Trust to buy equipment needed to train a new generation of search and rescue volunteers
