Dreams are important.  At the Whanganui Community Foundations one of our dreams is a community where every child grows up in a loving and caring family, that enjoys spending quality time together.  Opportunities to have fun and relax together are an important part of that dream so the Foundation was keen to support the Splash Centre project  as a way of helping that dream to happen. 

The Foundation committed to providing $500,000 as a direct grant, $300,000 on a $1 for every $1 raised in the community and $200,000 to provide learn to swim and family recreation opportunities for families who find it difficult to make the budget stretch to these items.

The Project Splash Charitable Trust has been working on fundraising initiatives for some time before the Foundation funding package was announced – in excess of $27,000 has been raised so far though a car raffle, the Chronicle’s Around the Bridges Run and other initiatives.  That initial fundraising will trigger a match from the Foundation as a kickstart.  In terms of the next steps in the fundraising there are some options on offer.  Chairman John Unsworth said “We want to enable everyone to be able to make a contribution in their own way – you can buy a kids t-shirt at the Splash Centre, you can make a donation at the Westpac Bank here in Wanganui, you can post the cut out coupon in the newspaper to the Westpac Bank with a donation and you can organise a fundraiser of your own or through community organisations you are in”.  “We are also working on a club package for businesses and others and are hoping to launch that shortly” he said.  The Trust encourages everyone in the community to make their own contribution, big or small, to what will be a significant community asset.