Funding for Martinborough’s New Ambulance – no small task

click image to close'> Martinborough District Ambulance Trust's Chairperson, David Kershaw inspecting the new vehicle.

Martinborough recently celebrated the commission of its new Mercedes ambulance.

Already in 2005 the ambulance service in Martinborough has been involved in the lives of 37 people and the commitment of a dedicated group of volunteers is helping to ensure that this service is available to Martinborough and the South Wairarapa.

This was acknowledged by Mayor for South Wairarapa District Council, Adrienne Staples who highlighted that many community services in rural areas are provided by volunteers.

It's no small task. At $130,000 the cost of a Mercedes ambulance is a major project. In fact planning for the next ambulance has started for replacement in 2018.

The efforts of the Martinborough District Ambulance Trust have seen them obtain funding from a variety of funders and successfully increase this funding through astute financial investments.

However, this might not be possible to do again says the Trust's Chairperson, David Kershaw "changing rules have made fundraising harder and we will have to look at different options. As an example you are required to use funding given within a given financial year." Under this scenario the Ambulance Trust would not be able to invest funds and would require significant amounts of funding and commitment from funders to ensure the goal was met.

The Trust's secretary Rosemary Ward was a significant help in co-ordinating the Trust's efforts together with the Treasurer. Lots of applications were made to Funders from information that Rosemary gathered mainly from newspapers.

It was worth the effort because the list of funders included: Lion Foundation ($40,000), TG McCarthy Trust, Tindall Foundation, Wairarapa Building Society, South Wairarapa Lions and Lionesses, Martinborough Motorcycle Club, Martinborough Annual Cycle Event and South Wairarapa District Council.

Kevin Haunui, Sales and Liaison Manager for Funding Information Service attended the celebration in Martinborough. Wryfully he noted that FundView, the searchable database for community groups searching for funding, and which is available in Martiborough was not utilised.

Maybe for the 2018 replacement.

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