Granting Stories

On behalf of St Joseph’s Netball Club I would like to extend a huge thanks you to Braided Rivers Community Trust for supporting us with sponsorship towards new playing uniforms. We have just had our first round of games Friday night and Saturday morning. The children look simply amazing in the new gear - they were beaming with pride and excitement, and we have had many comments about how smart and sharp they look. Thank you again for supporting us. Great picture of the Wilsons Windscreens Allenton Premier A team wearing the new club dresses. We really appreciate the support!

Tinwald Pony Club wishes to thank the Braided Rivers Community Trust Ashburton which granted a quick response grant for additional uniform items for our club. Our Tinwald PC team of riders competed at the SIPCSJ Championships in Ashburton in January 2025, and wore these proudly.

With over 200 entries over the 2024/25 tennis tournaments, we can look back at a successful season here in Mid Canterbury. Giving out trophies and certificates straight after each final really put a smile on the kids’ faces and meant they all received recognition. The kids were so proud just to hear their names called to come back to the office for the prize giving after each final! Thanks so much to you all as sponsors on making these events possible. Not only social media coverage with the sponsors names in pictures but also right across the certificates and trophies at home which hopefully they and you can be proud of.

This was an experience of a lifetime and supplied me with large amounts of knowledge on all types of science, helping me decide on what to study at university, it helped me with self-confidence and independence as travelling across the world alone is no big feat. I was also able to positively represent New Zealand on a global scale.

Allenton Netball Club wish to thank Braided Rivers Community Trust for their grant of $2,000 to go towards new dresses for the Club. Great picture of the Wilsons Windscreens Allenton Premier A team wearing the new club dresses. We really appreciate the support!

We only had 2 sets of kids batting helmets (one set was borrowed from another club) for our two Junior Softball Teams and 8 Machine Pitch teams, so they were wearing out pretty fast. We have to give a BIG THANKYOU!! TO Braided Rivers Community Trust Ashburton for 2 new sets of junior helmets. It is really appreciated.

As a result of this grant, Birthright office in Ashburton achieved these key outcomes: Families are kept informed with information and activities both internal (Birthright -led) and external (from the wider community and other agencies) to access for support and connection. Families and the Ashburton social worker maintain connections through texts messages and phone calls to ensure there is a trusted professional the families could count on in case they needed some support, listening ear or specialist referrals to be facilitated. Ashburton social worker and volunteers are well informed of the overall activities of the Trust and volunteers are valued and recognised for their amazing contribution to the community. Thank you and we truly appreciate the support from BRCT enabling us to support families led by one person.

These blinds and curtains have already made a huge difference to the warmth in the clubrooms. The higher blinds are electric and, on a timer, so they open up in the morning and then close mid afternoon as the sun leaves. This is helping us to use the suns natural heat in the Wintertime to at least take the chill out of the room. With close fitting blinds we are avoiding the heat then leaving through the glass. Previously the high blinds were permanently closed as they were too high to open and close all the time, all the Winter sun was being wasted.

Your support has enables us to continue our quarterly clinics and monthly peer support groups and our services and collaborations in Ashburton are growing. We have met and engaged with the Te Whatu Ora Older Person’s Health staff at the hospital including the gerontology nurse practitioners and speech language therapist. We have also connected with the Older Person’s Health Needs Assessment Team and Lifelinks Needs Assessment facilitators (for people under 65years old). Hospice offer carer support groups, counselling, reiki, massage, exercise classes and sitting services (so the carer can get out) as well as biography writing. They are an awesome one stop shop and we refer to them constantly. CanBead – beading workshop Dementia Canterbury Elizabeth St Day Centre (for daycare programme) Thank you for you support.

We would like to thank the Braided Rivers Community Trust Ashburton for awarding us a grant in December last year which went towards two sets of dresses for our two new junior teams!   We really appreciate receiving the grant and love how great the teams look in the dresses.

Despite a few equipment issues over in Bali, I managed to come away with 14th overall in my division, out of 131 competitors. I am happy to say that I had the highest placing finish of all the New Zealand contingent, my previous best was 34th. Thank you Braided Rivers Community Trust for the grant, I used the grant to cover a significant portion of my travel expenses, allowing me to use funds I had already earmarked for this purpose for further training and development prior to departing.

I would like to say a huge thanks you for the beautiful woollen dress rug we were lucky enough to win at the Ashburton Show. It is hugely appreciated having you supporting the show. I had a wonderful couple of days on the pony RP Nijinski.

I would just like to say a huge thank you for sponsoring the supreme horse at the Ashburton A&P this year. I was lucky enough to win this on my horse Gandarah Country Road and receive a beautiful Woollen rug. Your sponsorship is very much appreciated,

Through this grant, our organisation has been able to retain the Cass Street, Ashburton premises from where our support services are provided. Over 40 different services operate from Community House and this gives our team access to much expertise in a wide range of support that is useful for our services. Some local support has been: ‘Michael’, who lives with his family a few minutes from Ashburton, has been diagnosed with autism and has a mobility issue. As a result of the pandemic, he had become isolated. Prior to the pandemic he’d attended gym sessions, but lost confidence around leaving his home during that time. Our team has been working with Michael ever since to rebuild his confidence. This year has seen some big changes for Michael. With the aid of a new walker, he’s now ‘on the move’. This has given him the confidence to re-engage with the wider community. He’s now using the local Connector van to travel to Ashburton where he meets his Support Worker at the local library. He’s also attending his gym again and completes his own shopping.

Kia Ora Rob and the Braided Rivers Community Trust, I just wanted to be in touch to say a massive thank you for selecting me as a recipient of the Braided Rivers scholarship at Ashburton College! The money awarded is much appreciated and I know will be very helpful in allowing me to achieve highly next year during my studies at UC! If you would like anything from me e.g. photos I would be more than happy to assist! Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if there is anything else that you would like from me! I hope to stay in touch to keep you up to date with the successes of my studies in the coming years! Once again thank you so much! Ella Rickard

We need to say a huge Thank You to Braided Rivers Community Trust Ashburton for their generous support we have had from them this season. Our Tents are amazing and kept our athletes sheltered at this year’s Colgate games. It gives us a great community spirit and it’s definitely helping attract more children, which is great for keeping kids engaged in sport.

With over 200 entries over the 2024/25 tennis tournaments, we can look back at a successful season here in Mid Canterbury. Giving out trophies and certificates straight after each final really put a smile on the kids’ faces and meant they all received recognition. The kids were so proud just to hear their names called to come back to the office for the prize giving after each final! Bringing top juniors in from around the South Island for our Labour Weekend Tournaments really gives our local talent some great competitive matches to be involved in. Parents/Spectators and Players all go away commenting on such a great time after visiting ones of NZ’s premier tennis facilities. Thanks so much to you all as sponsors on making these events possible. Not only social media coverage with the sponsors names in pictures but also right across the certificates and trophies at home which hopefully they and you can be proud of.

On behalf of the Ashburton Bowling Club Inc. Board & members, we would like to thank you for our grant of $2000.00. We appreciate this grant, as it will help us with the maintenance and repairs for our green. We are extremely proud of our Bowling Club and surrounds, but as you will be aware, it takes a lot of time, energy and money to keep it all in the condition we like. Our bowlers are proud of our green and our greenkeeper with help from many bowlers is the best and does a wonderful job of keeping our green up to standard. We feel we are very lucky to have this bowling green in the Domain, as we feel it's the best in Ashburton and with the surrounds outside in the Domain, we have a beautiful outlook to complement our bowling green. Once again thank you for your grant to us.

A huge, huge thank you, Braided Rivers Community Trust Ashburton, for so generously supporting us in hosting this wonderful 2-day event here in Ashburton, on behalf of both the Ashburton Dahlia Circle, and the Canterbury Dahlia Circle (our sister club in Christchurch), who co-hosted the national show with us. Your support was invaluable as it enabled us to take care of all the behind the scenes and logistical work leading up to and after the show. It was a huge undertaking for our little organization, but we did the district proud, with exhibitors from the length of the South Island, plus a contingent from Auckland and even a visitor from Canada. So grateful and thanks again.

On behalf of the Ashburton Society of Arts I wish to thank the members of the Braided Rivers Community Trust for their sponsorship of the BRCT Water and Nature Award in this year’s Exhibition. Without your generous sponsorship, our Exhibition would not be as successful as it is. The Exhibition this year again had a very successful opening night, great sales and many positive comments about the quality of the exhibits. We were very pleased to have representatives of the Trust attend on opening night. Again, thank you for your continued sponsorship and trust we can count on this for our 60th Exhibition next year.

Without the generous assistance from your organisation we would not have been able to stage this event to promote music & dance in Ashburton.

Thank you Braided Rivers Community Trust for the grant we received to support our coaches and competition judges. The grant money was used to buy petrol vouchers that we give to these very kind and talented people to show our appreciation.

Mid Canterbury Hockey would like to acknowledge and thank you for your continued sponsorship for our annual raffle. The proceeds from the raffle enable us to grow and administer hockey in Mid Canterbury; with a significant portion used to fund our youth representative program. Once again thank you for your support.  

We are thrilled to receive the news that Braided Rivers Community Trust will contribute $1,000 toward the purchase of our PA system. Your support is invaluable to us, and we sincerely appreciate your generosity. The funds will undoubtedly go a long way in improving our church's audio capabilities and enhancing the worship experience for our congregation and community outreach. We look forward to putting the grant to good use. Once again, thank you for your trust in our church and for supporting our mission. We look forward to a successful partnership and will keep you updated on our progress.

Thank you to Braided Rivers Community Trust from Wakanui Hockey Club for the $1300 grant for uniforms received at the end of last year.   These shirts were well used in the 2023 season and will be a terrific asset in the future.   The photo attached is one of the junior teams wearing the club shirts purchased with their coach Grant Bennett and club president Daniel Lovett. 

A massive thank you to Braided Rivers Community Trust Ashburton and everyone for supporting me in getting to Japan to fulfil an incredible opportunity. Teaching and exploring through Japanese education, customs, and traditions has been eye-opening. I have taken away rich, cultural knowledge and community informed teaching practices to use when beginning teaching next year. Truly grateful to be a part of the Comparative Education Research Programme 2023.

Tinwald Hockey is stoked to have received a very generous grant from Braided Rivers Community Trust Ashburton to cover our turf costs for practices. We are very grateful for their support. The grant received from BRCT enabled our club to keep our subs at a sustainable level. We are concerned about the rising cost of playing sport and this grant has gone a significant way to paying our turf fees for the practices which are a large cost to our club.