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RECIPIENTS OF ROUND 13 GRANTS

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RECIPIENTS OF ROUND 11 GRANTS

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OPPORTUNITY FACTORY GIFTS FUNDS AT FIFTH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

THE MANGAWHAI FOCUS, 7 Nov, 2022

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JULIA WADE

The passionate cry of kapa haka kicked off a celebration marking five years of the Mangawhai Opportunity Factory, and over half a million dollars of grants gifted to community organisations.

Mangawhai Community Opportunity Shop Trust [MCOST] aka The Factory, turned five last month and celebrated under the warm spring sun on Saturday October 22 with a half-price sale and community gala. The event attracted hundreds of locals and holiday visitors alike to a fun day of face painting, balloon making, lucky dips, sausage sizzle, bake sale, speeches, entertainment and sharing of a large birthday cake.

MCOST chair David McLeish says it was a pleasure to welcome the large party and thanked everybody for their support, either by donating goods, shopping or for the time and effort as volunteers and staff, who without ‘we wouldn’t be here celebrating our fifth birthday, so thank you very much’.

“I also want to thank the people who have been involved from the very start, the passion and vision that founders Margie, Roger and the others saw was to keep the profits from this operation one hundred percent in the Mangawhai community, and that’s what we’ve been able to do,” he says. “The results of this over the last five years is that we’ve been able to give back to the community more than $500,000 to over 50 different charity organisations, with another lot of money, round ten, going back into community today.”

Before presenting the next recipients with their grants, co-founder and MCOST trustee Margie Murray said a special thank you to former chair Roger Hill.

“Without Roger I don’t think we would have got this going, Denise [Davies] and I did lots of talking and Roger put us on the straight and narrow,” she says. “I’ve thanked him before but not publicly and think it’s really important that we acknowledge what you gave us, thank you.”

Along with Factory staff and MCOST board members, representatives of Kaipara’s newly-elected council attended – Mangawhai-Kaiwaka councillor’s Mike Howard and deputy mayor Jonathan Larsen along with new Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson who has been a Factory grant recipient himself.

“Through a little organisation I started a few years ago [Mangawhai Recreational Charitable Trust] to build the Gumdiggers Track, the Factory was one of the organisations which supported it,” he says. “I’d like to thank David, Margie and all their crew for such a wonderful organisation and what it does… it is one of the marvellous things about Mangawhai, this is how we have community.”

Round ten grant recipients are well-deserving groups, clubs and organisations who work towards enhancing and supporting the life, health and spirit of Mangwhai and locals. This round included: North Rodney Blue Light Ventures, Hakaru Hall Society, Linking Hands, Mangawhai Beach School, Mangawhai Tracks Charitable Trust, Mangawhai Heads Volunteer Lifeguard Service, Mangawhai Shed, Mangawhai Library Hall, Te Whai Community Trust, Daring Rescue Group, ParentPort North Inc, Mangawhai Football Club, Mangawhai Museum, Mangawhai Kindergarten, Mangawhai Business Association, Hakaru Pony Club and Tomarata Playcentre.

The Factory’s board of trustees (from left) Peggyann Colville, Dianne Christensen, Sue Clayton, former chair Roger Hill, John Sarah, current chair David McLeish, and Margie Murray, with recently elected Kaipara councillor Mike Howard. Absent: Trustee Geoff Lyons. PHOTO/ELEVATED MEDIA

The Factory’s delicious birthday cake baked by Margie Murray; and regular performers in Mangawhai, the ultra-talented “Loose Covers” provided beautiful music to entertain the crowd.

Mangawhai Beach School Kapa Haka gave a rousing and energising performance to signify the start of the celebration.

Te Whai Community Trust members (from left) secretary Sue Poynter, projects manager Kiri Eriwata and social services manager Mary-Anne Boyd are able to carry on their essential work thanks to Factory grants.

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COMMUNITY GRANTS ROUND 10

We held a Gala Day to celebrate our 5th birthday and to mark the incredible achievement of over $500,000 in grants given to over 50 local groups over the past 5 years!

We are delighted to announce 16 grants and more than $105,000 has been distributed to the following recipients in the latest round:

Some of the receipients of Grants, with their certificates

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Community set to benefit from next round of Factory funding

PHOTO: Julia Wade. The Factory has had a make-over and is looking amazing! Pictured from left, Factory manager Honor Stratton with store supervisor Eva Rapp (rear) and two dedicated shop volunteers, Loma Moors and Gail Ross.

Two months shy of its fifth anniversary, one of Mangawhai’s much-loved recycling stores, with a reputation of spreading thousands of community-enhancing dollars around the area, is also offering a generous birthday bonus.

Officially launched on October 14 2017, Mangawhai Community Opportunity Shop Trust (MCOST) aka ‘The Factory’, is gearing up for the organisation’s tenth round of bi-annual grants and, on top of the usual donations, are celebrating by offering local groups a chance to score gifts of $10,000.

MCOST trustee Dianne Christensen says the handful of extra grants are a fantastic chance for community groups to be able to achieve their vision and complete projects.

“The Factory Trust is thrilled, with the help of the community, to have already provided over 50 local community groups with grants over the past four-and-a-half years,” she says. “It still blows me away how it’s worked, how the community has donated goods, provided the volunteers and also purchased some great buys to allow the Trust to gift money back into the community.”

Applications for the funding support are open from September 5-30 and are intended for projects which help improve and enrich the community and the life of locals. Grants are classified into three categories: ‘Mangawhai for Mangawhai’ which enables the commencement/completion of social and infrastructure projects with funds up to $5000; ‘Step Up’, a $1000 grant for non-charitable trust or legal-entity organisations who require funding to help a beneficial community project; and the $1500 ‘Youth Achievement Applicants’ for recognised Mangawhai youth organisations who want to assist young locals skill development.

“On top of this, under the Mangawhai for Mangawhai category, there will be a few additional grants up to $10,000,” Dianne says. “If a group is applying for this then it is recommended they also apply for the ‘up to $5000’ as well in case they don’t get allocated the larger amount.”

The Factory’s manager, Honor Stratton, says the previous recipient’s achievements, including the Mangawhai Shed, Te Whai Community Trust and Mangawhai Surf Club, have blown her away.

“If you shop with us, if you donate to us, this is who you’re helping, this is where your hard-earned cash goes,” she says. “We're super-proud to be able to support them.”

Through Te Whai, Mangawhai’s local support and advocacy organisation, Factory grants have allowed a range of social services ‘to get off the ground’ from food baskets for the struggling, companions to accompany the lonely, as well as counselling, mental health support and even an occupational therapist.

“Te Whai is continuing to grow with the area, helping people find the right services and advocating for those who need it. There seems to be a perception that people in Mangawhai are wealthier so we don’t get access to social services and while there are many families thriving here, there are many who are not,” Honor says. “The cost of housing is a problem in and around Mangawhai and need for support is growing. We're so fortunate to have this group of incredible humans who are so passionate and tenacious, a group which started off literally around a kitchen table!”

The Factory is also a major funder of Mangawhai’s surf club, helping to provide vital equipment from defibrillators, junior training paddle boards, to tents and gazebos for events, storage facilities as well as a trailer and rack for the club’s brand-new emergency jet ski.

“It goes without saying how lucky we are to have our amazing surf club. I know they receive some grant support from various charities and local initiatives as well as a little from the council, but it blew me away to learn the Factory are their main supporter.”

Members of ‘the remarkable’ Mangawhai Shed are also grateful recipients with grants enabling installation of necessary equipment such as a water tank, storage container and dust extractor unit. Besides getting creative, forming friendships and ‘much laughter and mick-taking’, the ‘sheddies’ put their collective knowledge and skills to good use, designing and building items for community projects like pest traps, Christmas floats and play equipment for the kindergarten kids.

“All of this is made possible by local people; please keep supporting us, keep shopping at The Factory, keep donating your wonderful goods and please keep your friendly words of encouragement flowing to our amazing volunteers,” Honor says. “Hand on heart, our personal thanks go out to everyone, together we're honestly making a difference, together we are making Mangawhai a better place.”

For forms and information on The Factory’s grants, please visit mangawhaiopportunityfactory.com or to join the band of devoted volunteers, drop in to the store at Wood Street, Mangawhai heads.

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COMMUNITY GRANTS ROUND 9

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COMMUNITY GRANTS ROUND 8

THANK YOU Mangawhai residents and visitors for your quality donations and for shopping at The Factory. 

We are pleased to announce 15 grants have been paid to local causes and projects in the latest round. 

More than $50,000 has been distributed to the following recipients:

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