Latest news

Maori and Pasifika students take part in life changing science and conservation project

We recently spoke to Partnership Through Collaboration (PTC) Trust who received $30,000 from Pub Charity Limited. PTC Trust received funding to help support their Indigenous Sparks science and technology initiative. This programme helps young Maori and Pasifika pursue the sciences by making it fun, practical and engaging. The Indigenous Sparks programme was offered to over 200 Maori and Pasifika students from across New Zealand. Through the programme students were able to take part in a number of exercises focused on conservation. Also a big part of the programme was teaching the students to present their findings through different media. The result of these exercises later went on to benefit the wider community through their presentations.

With growing ecological concerns in New Zealand, Pub Charity’s net proceeds committee felt this was a worthwhile project. Motivating youth to engage and be passionate about conservation was seen to be good for the whole country. Without funding from Pub Charity, PTC trust said in the interview that they couldn’t have run the programme. PTC could not stress enough how important the project was for both the students and the community.

Improving youth mental health services in the north island

With Concern over the provision of mental health services to young people in the news recently Pub Charity was pleased to announce a grant of over $50,000 to Youthline Central North Island. Youthline Central North Island offer a range of services to Kiwi youth. The services they offer and that Pub Charity has helped to support include counselling, mentoring and mental health well-being workshops to Intermediate schools, colleges and places that youth work and play. They offer these services in towns big and small throughout the central north island such as Rangitikei, Manawatu, Horowhenua, Tararua and Palmerston North.

When speaking to Youthline manager Brian Devonshire he explained that the main goal they work towards as an organisation is to reduce the youth suicide rate. There is a great emphasis within the organisation on empowering youth and to equip them with the skills to deal with the issues they may be facing. Sadly according to Brian, Youthline Central North Island relies mostly on grants. In an interview he said “The likes of Pub Charity are very important to us, if it wasn’t for them it would be very difficult to carry on doing what we do”.

The benefit of Pub Charity funding: Wellington Free Ambulance

While we end up funding a vast number of projects from around New Zealand it’s not often that we get to see the end result first hand however we were given a fantastic opportunity to do just that. Wellington Free Ambulance have been kind enough to send us a thank you letter outlining the things they have been able to achieve thanks to the new vehicle that Pub Charity Limited had helped to fund. Ambulance 426 as it came to be known has since helped over 3000 kiwis who have ended up in emergency situations. Including callouts from Kiwis suffering from chest pains, breathing problems or fainting.

So far during its service Ambulance 426 has traveled the equivalent length of New Zealand almost 47 times (74,435Km at last count). Helping to fund this ambulance has allowed Wellington Free ambulance to ensure that they are working with reliable equipment and that both their staff and their patients are as safe as possible on the road. providing the best level of care possible in an emergency situation.

Improved support to families suffering from Alzheimer’s thanks to Pub Charity

Life has just been made a little bit easier for friends and family of those suffering with Alzheimer’s disease in Northland. Pub Charity recently awarded a $10,000 grant to the Alzheimer’s Society Northland who received funding for community advisors. These community advisors will be offering the influential carer training programme which the organisation is highly praised for.

This training which recipients have described as ‘worth a million dollars’ involves training friends and family of people suffering from Alzheimer’s to better understand and deal with the difficulties that come with caring for that family member. The objective of this training is to ensure that those suffering from the disease are in the best possible environment for their needs.

While Alzheimer’s Society Northland does receive some funding from the District Health Board however it is not nearly enough for them to operate a the level required of them by the Northland community with a client list that has almost doubled in the last 5 years.

For over a decade Pub Charity Limited has been helping to support Alzheimer’s Society Northland as well as giving funding to many other hospice and aged care organisations to assist in providing their vital support services to families in need throughout Pub Charity Limited’s history.

Nelson-Marlborough region to receive continued rescue helicopter services

Industry update 

The new government

We recently met with the new Minister of Internal Affairs, Tracey Martin, and she indicated clear recognition of the value of the community funding contributed by Class 4 gaming in New Zealand. Given the diminishing numbers of venues and machines, she did express some concerns about the industry’s long-term sustainability, and we’ll continue to engage with her on this issue that is central to our industry.

She also confirmed that the coalition arrangements between Labour, New Zealand First and the Greens don’t feature a fixed view on gaming. However, one area she would like to see further advances is in the use of technology to support harm minimisation.

Minister Martin confirmed that the strategic review of the sector remains on hold for the time being. She would like us to continue to work closely with the DIA on developing and evolving policies and procedures for Class 4 gaming in New Zealand.

Mystery shoppers in 2018

The DIA is moving to develop ‘mystery shopper’ scenarios for the 2018 year. These scenarios have been co-designed by the DIA and we in the sector, which means that, unlike in previous years, the scenarios are more realistic.

They will focus on clear and obvious signs of problem gambling such as displaying distress in front of and directly to venue staff, and verbal admissions of financial difficulties.

What this means for our venues is that, having contributed to the problem gambler scenarios there is an increased expectation that staff will identify the behaviour and act accordingly – in particular, recording signs or incidents of potential problem gambling behaviour in the incident/observation register, and providing harm minimisation information.

Gaming in 2018

We’ve continued to invest in new technologies and the careful selection of a combination of new games and old favourites is proving successful. We’ve also invested a lot of time and effort in our Jackpot strategies to ensure we’re providing great entertainment options that keep your customers engaged.

Providing an excellent product, combined with a buoyant economy, has seen revenues increase for the first time after a number of years of decline.

We’ll be continuing to work with all our venues to ensure the gaming mix and Jackpot options are delivering maximum value in 2018.

Wellington Zoo Chimps to receive new, more complex habitat

The Chimpanzees of Wellington Zoo will be receiving an updated home in the near future thanks to a new habitat project made possible by funding from Pub Charity. Wellington Zoo CEO Karen Fifield said that the chimps were “iconic for Wellington Zoo” which holds the 2^nd largest troupe in Australasia. Wellington Zoo works closely with the Jane Goodall Institute to ensure the survival of Chimpanzees in the wild; and the Zoo works hard to ensure the best possible care for the Chimpanzees that live at the Zoo. The revamped habitat will increase the complexity of the Chimps environment and better reflect their natural habitat. 

Once the project is completed Chimps Sally, Marty, Jessie, Samantha, Alexis, Bakari, Cara, Keza, Kitwe and Malika will live in a more suitable environment for their complex social structure allowing for the best care and study by their keepers.

Karen Fifield also mentioned that the project will not only make a big impact on the chimps but also help to add “a much better dimension in terms of the visitor experience for these very important animals” As it will also allow for increased visitor viewing into the upgraded habitat.

Wellington Free Ambulance adding a new ambulance to their fleet

People in the greater wellington area can sleep easy knowing that should they or a loved one require urgent medical assistance that Wellington Free Ambulance is equipped with a brand new ambulance thanks to funding received from Pub Charity. Wellington free ambulance works their ambulances around the clock meaning their fleet is pushed much harder than the average vehicle meaning they are constantly replacing and repairing vehicles in order to keep up with safety standards, a cost which government funding alone can’t cover.

This will be the 6^th new ambulance that Wellington Free Ambulance has been able to purchase due to funding from Pub Charity over nearly a decade of support and could be out on the road attending emergencies and saving lives right now. With the help of Pub Charity Wellington Free Ambulance will continue to be able to offer both emergency frontline ambulance services and urgent community care to the greater wellington area with confidence that they have the most reliable equipment available.

Pub Charity is proud to help fund such an important project that will help save lives as well as many other projects within New Zealand communities.

Almost $1.5 million in donations provided a major boost to hospice projects across the country in September

Six hospice organisations across New Zealand received funding from us last month in support of a wide range of projects.

Pub Charity Limited is a regular supporter of hospice organisations across the country, recognising both the vital services that these facilities provide at a very difficult time in the lives of patients and their loved ones, and also the challenges they face delivering these services with only partial funding from the public purse.

Last month’s funding ranged from financing ongoing costs, such as operational costs and salaries, to supporting the purchase of facilities such as medical equipment and vehicles, to contributing to large scale building projects.

The largest recipient in the September funding round was a donation of $566,366 to Nelson Tasman Hospice towards the development of a new facility in Stoke, Nelson.

Nelson Tasman Hospice chief executive Frans Dellebeke said in an interview with the Nelson Mail that the donation would go a long way towards helping them achieve their fundraising target. Read the full article here: Nelson Tasman Hospice build gets Pub Charity funding boost.

Other hospice organisations to receive funding last month from the top of the north to the far south were North Haven Hospice (Northland), Totara Hospice (South Auckland), Waipuna Hospice (Bay of Plenty), Arohanui Hospice (Manawatu) and Hospice Southland (Southland).

A big thank you to all our member hotels and taverns in these regions whose efforts contributed to the funding of these vital community services.

Pub Charity Limited donates almost $700,000 to Hospice Mid-Northland

Martin Cheer, Chief Executive of Pub Charity Limited, recently announced a donation of $695,002.00 to Hospice Mid-Northland Society Inc for a new processing centre for donated items.

The processing centre is where donated items are sorted for the Hospice’s three shops in Kerikeri, Kawakawa and Kaikohe. The current processing centre has served its purpose well but is now posing a significant health and safety risk to volunteers as it is too small to accommodate the growing volume of donations from the Kerikeri community. Whilst Hospice Mid-Northland is very grateful for the donations received, space is needed to process them safely by a group of volunteers that are usually elderly.

Belinda Watkins, General Manager of Hospice Mid-Northland, said that they were absolutely thrilled when the news of their donation came through.

She explained that 41% of the organisation’s funding comes from their three shops (with 42% coming from DHB funding and the remaining 17% from other fundraising activities and donations). Given that the processing centre is the hub for managing the flow to these shops, it has a vital role to play in the future of the organisation. She noted that not only would the new facility provide a safer working environment for volunteers, it would also enable more efficient processing to optimise revenue from the donations received.   

In 2016 alone, Pub Charity Limited donated over $2.25 million to hospice organisations throughout the country ranging from frontline clinical, nursing and equipment costs, to building costs, to operating and administration costs, salaries, vehicles and events.

“These are organisations that support patients and their families at a very vulnerable time in their lives”, Mr Cheer said. “They play a vital role in our communities and, with the aging population, the demands on their resources will only continue to rise. Pub Charity Limited is proud to be able to make a contribution to these worthy organisations on behalf of our member hotels and taverns throughout New Zealand.”