Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) acknowledges Sport NZ following their announcement today to provide further short-term relief for organisations at all levels of sport and active recreation, in particular the Community Resilience Fund.
Fiona Allan (Chief Executive, PNZ) said: “We are pleased to hear the announcement from Sport NZ today as this will provide relief for struggling local and regional sport and recreation organisations at a time when many have been incredibly hard hit by COVID-19.“
She continued: “Our member organisations include regional disability sport and recreation organisations that provide critical support, programmes and club activities to disabled people within their regions. Many National Sports Organisations also provide much needed Para sport opportunities for disabled people within the regions and at the club level. As the National Paralympic Committee for New Zealand we will be supporting and encouraging our members that meet the criteria to apply to the Community Resilience Fund to ensure that disabled Kiwis continue to have access to community disability sport and recreation opportunities.“
The 2018 Active NZ research states that overall disabled people are less likely to participate weekly in play, active recreation or sport. With 24% of all adult New Zealanders including 95,000 under the age of 15 identifying as being disabled, support for accessible community disability sport and recreation opportunities during these times is critical.
We encourage our member organisations who are eligible for the Community Resilience Fund to apply on Sport NZ website.
