After a scary few months of financial hardship, LGBT phone support service OUTLine has today confirmed several funders have freed up cash which will enable it to continue into 2010 with a new part-time staff member. In September OUTLine was forced to let go of its only full-time paid staff member after several funding applications were deferred. The service was left running with a skeleton staff of volunteers as New Zealand's LGBT communities scrambled to successfully raise the $30,000 needed to keep the service afloat. "Many in the community will be pleased to know that we have had recent notifications of funding from the JR McKenzie Trust, Lottery Welfare Grants Board, COGS funding and a rent grant from the Auckland City Council," Lorraine Martin, chairperson of OUTLine, tells GayNZ.com today. "We are obviously very pleased with the results that have been achieved in the past couple of months. However, we need to remember that in order to keep the organisation developing and supporting the Rainbow Communities into the future we need to ensure a more secure and robust funding base. "We are out of the woods for now but we need to remain active in our fundraising effort to ensure we don't end up in the same situation again." One of the most visible and tangible outcomes of the fundraising initiatives is that OUTLine is now in a position to employ a staff member in a Community Development role. This will be a 24 hour per week position based in the Auckland office. People interested in applying for the position can contact OUTLine for the job description and information on the application process. NEW FUNDER GIVES $10,000 The Rule Foundation, a new funder dedicated to promoting the wellbeing of New Zealand's LGBT communities, has donated $10,000 to OUTLine NZ. The Rule Foundation is a charitable trust formed from a private trust that has previously supported causes such as the Wellington based Gay Line, School's Out, SS4Q, intersex advocate Mani Mitchell, and the Lesbian
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 1st December 2009 - 2:34pm