Town City Belt Program

In January, The star reported that the program, which worked with thousands of students in 12 Dunedin schools and three early childhood centers since 2017, had entered hibernation due to a financing deficit (“Filed Funded Project”, The starJanuary 30, page 1).

TBK’s senior education coordinator Dr. Maureen Howard was storing educational resources in the hope that the program could be resurrected in the future.

But now, a Dr. Howard Encantado is back at work, taking educational resources and contacting teachers, principals, parents and students last year to make the ball roll again.

TBK President Strategic Leadership Group, Taylor Davies-Colley, said Orc could intervene and provide the $ 20,000 needed to meet the financing deficit of the year.

“It’s great to have this support from Orc-Ele gives us more time to seek other sponsors and funding support so TBK can continue on a sustainable base,” said Davies-Colley.

The manifestation of community support was also “heated in the heart,” he said.

The financing situation remained difficult for the organization, which operated with a budget of $ 40,000 to $ 50,000 in the last two years.

As costs increased, a more sustainable budget would be about $ 70,000 a year, he said.

“We need to be able to provide work safety for our education coordinator and be able to cover other costs,” he said.

The Dunedin City Council (CDD) was a “great support” from the beginning, providing about $ 30,000 in financing each year, but the general funding situation was “phenomenally difficult.”

“However, we are very fortunate to have the support of DCC and ORC for the TBK program – it is good to know that they see the value of our young people have engaged with green spaces.

“And it will be easier to request continuous financing for a program that is in operation, so we feel that we are in a better position,” said Davies-Colley.

A Dr. Howard “very relieved” said that getting the TBK program again would have its challenges, but she had already had very positive feedback from schools and students.

“The first thing is that everyone knows and hopefully bringing our student leaders back, who are very aware of how we do things,” she said.

A student leader zoom meeting was planned for Thursday, April 10, to discuss plans for the first TBK HUI and the ongoing event event program.

“I am very pleased that some of the things that student leaders were planning at the end of last year to be followed after all,” Howard said.

This included bird monitoring in progress in the city belt, podcasts for OAR FM transmission, winter planting with CD and capture.

The TBK program was also based on specialized volunteers to help lead programs.

“So we are looking for more volunteers to work with us and we would like to hear people who like to work with nature and young people,” Howard said.

• Anyone interested can send an and email to townbelt.edcoordinator@gmail.com