Rotary Kick-Start Award winners announced
Model wearing kotahitanga t-shirt (T-shirt available on the Koru Enterprises online store), and participants at the Recreate Girls Club.
Thanks to Rotary Club of Newmarket and Rotary Club of Wellington, three North Island social enterprises have been awarded cash prizes as part of the Rotary Kick-Start Awards.
Laura Ansell from Ākina was part of the team tasked with selecting the finalists “This is the fifth time we’ve run this awards scheme with Rotary, and this year we received over fifty applications.” she says “There were some really inspiring ideas, which made selecting finalists even more challenging than it has been in the past!”
The total prize money of $20,000 was split three ways with each prize going to an enterprise with a different impact area. The impact areas for the winning enterprises focussed on employment opportunities for people with disabilities, Māori art, culture and tourism, and mental health. Find out more about the award winners and the finalists below.
Award Winners
Moxie/Recreate $10,000 (Newmarket)
MOXIE, ‘meaningful opportunities crossing into employment’, produces sustainable employment opportunities for youth with intellectual disabilities. Recreate NZ uses the MOXIE employment model to bridge the gap between employers and prospective employees by providing 10 week work-experience programmes.
Koru Enterprises $7,000 (Wellington)
Koru creates unique, tailored travel packages, taking manuhiri (visitors), off the beaten tourist track, to discover the true essence of Aotearoa. The grant money will be used to develop walking tours in Napier focusing on the Māori cultural history of the area.
Bravely $3,000 (Wellington)
A holistic and evidence based mental health care app, focusing on the social impact of mental health. The app is currently in development. Grant money will be used to work towards a launch in October.
Wellington Finalists
Hai Clothing
Ethically and sustainably made menswear, made from handwoven cloth and natural materials. Hai Clothing partners with Laotian manufacturers for export to local markets, to create year long work for their communities.
A platform that enables you to give money to charities you care about, instead of receiving gifts that you don’t need. Reducing the amount of unwanted gifts and increasing the ability for you to do good.
GOOD Travel promotes and facilitates travel that has a positive impact. They’re committed to working with tourism businesses that are making a positive impact on the community, environment, and economy. By pioneering a new vision for tourism, GOOD Travel is changing the face and experience of travel.
Auckland Finalists
The Cookie Project employs Kiwis with disabilities to make delicious cookies. Their purpose is to help them understand their own values to themselves and to society by paying them at least the minimum national adult wage of $17.70 an hour.
Ethos
Ethos is an ethical skincare social enterprise. They’ve created a range 100% synthetic-free washes and moisturisers with the village-pressed coconut oil as the hero ingredient, using only plant-derived preservation which is unique in NZ. 100% of the profits from their skincare products will fund the expansion of our network of village families in Cambodia producing sustainable food. The skincare range is launching in November 2019.
Paper, Pens, Pencils
Paper Pens Pencils motivates major stationery companies, schools and the general public to donate surplus stationery to school children in need. So far they have raised over 50,000 items and donated to 25 low decile schools, helping over 10,000 children in Auckland, Fiji and the Cook Islands. Their mission is to help solve educational inequality, and improve educational outcomes for children across NZ and the Pacific.
Stay Native supports Māori living in rural communities with limited job opportunities to create their own tourism business, working hand in hand to co-design each experience and providing a platform to share their experiences with travellers from all over the world. They help travellers discover what makes a culture unique through articles photos and videos and match them with local Maori hosts to experience it.
The William Pike Challenge is a structured, sustained and specialist youth development programme that is facilitated in schools and by teachers around NZ. They’re all about creating challenging opportunities for young people to develop 21st-century skills and to prepare them to overcome challenge, change and achieve their absolute best.