Hobbies, sports grants report

Press, 16 September 1976, Page 26

Hobbies, sports grants report

PA Wellington The Council for Recreation and Sport made grants of $701,450 in the year ended March 31, 1976, according to the Councils annual report just tabled in Parliament.

Special grants during the year totalled $439,795, mainly for community centres and combined sport and youth activities, including $50,000 to the Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association.

The council also supported a new scheme introduced during the year to promote community use of school facilities. A total of $244,027 was distributed to subsidise locally-raised funds for school equipment that would also be used by the community. In the local-subsidy scheme each local authority was allocated 70c per head of population, and a total of $2,100,000 was distributed.

i “These figures, when combined with the local organisations’ own contributions, represent substantial development towards the council’s aim of strengthening the club system that currently provides most opportunities for New Zealanders to take part in their chosen leisure pursuits,” says the report. “The clubs thus supported this year included over 300 cultural groups, including bands, performing and fine arts, and arts and crafts as well as many other recreation and sport bodies.”

More than half the total amount distributed was spent on facilities and a further $405,000 was distributed for equipment. Some 340 applications for leadership an coaching aid were approved, representing nearly 6 per cent of the total amount distributed under the local-subsidy scheme.