Auckland City Council has given out over $262,000 in its Community Group Assistance Fund for 2009, but all four applications from LGBT community groups have been declined. The Charlotte Museum Trust requested $5,420 for an art project, OutlineNZ wanted $10,785 to print a booklet about 'Emotional Wellbeing for GLBTT People', Body Positive applied for $8,738 to provide 400 free HIV tests, and Rainbow Youth wanted $7,340 to develop and print a commemorative booklet for its 20th anniversary. All four applications were turned down, with funding officers saying the projects were "less of a priority for funding than other applications received this funding round." The recession has hit Auckland's LGBT community groups hard, with Body Positive forced to make redundancies earlier this year, the Charlotte Museum considering moving to cheaper premises in the suburbs and OutlineNZ down to its last few dollars as its regular major funders have less cash to give out in 2009 - the organisation's income is down $36k compared to last year, its Treasurer Peter Martin said at its recent Annual General Meeting.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 8th July 2009 - 11:58pm