Who we have helped.
Every year we give out a number of grants from our specified and general funds. As well as giving out grants through our grant application process, our Board Members also proactively work together with key people and organisations in our community to identify specific projects that we believe will truly 'Advance Ashburton'.
On the links below you will find a selection of stories from some of the organisations, events and individuals that have received funding from Advance Ashburton Community Foundation. To see a more detailed list of our distributions to the community, check out our 'Distributions' page.
Background to the Child Literacy Project – BOOST
In 2013 donations were made to Advance Ashburton Community Foundation to be used to improve literacy in our local primary school children.
The Foundation was then tasked with finding the most appropriate way to deliver on these wishes.
The team at the Ashburton Learning Centre embraced this new project, and after consulting with a number of experienced educators to identify the best programme to deliver, the BOOST child literacy project was developed.
The project, using educational best practices is designed to meet both the individual needs of the students together with the needs of the wider school community. The literacy programme focuses on the reading growth for children who need extra support between the ages of 7-9 years old. Children work one-on-one with volunteer tutors twice a week over a thirty-week period.
The programme was trialed at three schools (Allenton, Netherby, and Tinwald) and the results were impressive: the children made an average gain of 13.5 months in their reading age during the programme’s pilot year.
After this great success the programme has grown from strength to strength and this year (2021) is now available in twenty schools in the Ashburton District reaching 200 children with the help of sixty volunteers. Through good management, and the hard-working volunteers providing positive outcomes, this programme is now fully entrenched in our District’s local primary schools, benefiting not only the children’s literacy, but numeracy and, best of all, confidence.
Reaching out to the Community The BOOST programme was extended out to the community during the last school holidays by having a display at the library and running two sessions each week. One was for children playing reading games which was great fun and there was a good turnout of children. Then the BOOST Coordinator ran two sessions for parents of pre-schoolers and children who have just started school giving them ideas to help their children learn to read. This was also well received particularly by the English second language community.
During Covid During lock down the BOOST Coordinator, Judith Sommerville, after approaching the schools, got 70 BOOST children on the BOOST computer program online.
Advance Ashburton Community Foundation
Advance Ashburton has been working in the Ashburton District since 2003. A registered Charitable Trust, this trusted and proven organisation connects generous people who care with the causes that matter most to them.
The Foundation is creating positive impact for the Ashburton District, through a smart, simple and effective model that ensures every donation stays local, goes further and lasts forever.
To find out about other projects Advance Ashburton has funded, or to find out how you can be a part of making a positive impact through your generosity, please visit www.advanceashburton.org.nz or contact Victoria Johnson, Executive Officer on 021 395 406 or email info@advanceashburton.org.nz
In 2013 donations were made to Advance Ashburton Community Foundation to be used to improve literacy in our local primary school children.
The Foundation was then tasked with finding the most appropriate way to deliver on these wishes.
The team at the Ashburton Learning Centre embraced this new project, and after consulting with a number of experienced educators to identify the best programme to deliver, the BOOST child literacy project was developed.
The project, using educational best practices is designed to meet both the individual needs of the students together with the needs of the wider school community. The literacy programme focuses on the reading growth for children who need extra support between the ages of 7-9 years old. Children work one-on-one with volunteer tutors twice a week over a thirty-week period.
The programme was trialed at three schools (Allenton, Netherby, and Tinwald) and the results were impressive: the children made an average gain of 13.5 months in their reading age during the programme’s pilot year.
After this great success the programme has grown from strength to strength and this year (2021) is now available in twenty schools in the Ashburton District reaching 200 children with the help of sixty volunteers. Through good management, and the hard-working volunteers providing positive outcomes, this programme is now fully entrenched in our District’s local primary schools, benefiting not only the children’s literacy, but numeracy and, best of all, confidence.
Reaching out to the Community The BOOST programme was extended out to the community during the last school holidays by having a display at the library and running two sessions each week. One was for children playing reading games which was great fun and there was a good turnout of children. Then the BOOST Coordinator ran two sessions for parents of pre-schoolers and children who have just started school giving them ideas to help their children learn to read. This was also well received particularly by the English second language community.
During Covid During lock down the BOOST Coordinator, Judith Sommerville, after approaching the schools, got 70 BOOST children on the BOOST computer program online.
Advance Ashburton Community Foundation
Advance Ashburton has been working in the Ashburton District since 2003. A registered Charitable Trust, this trusted and proven organisation connects generous people who care with the causes that matter most to them.
The Foundation is creating positive impact for the Ashburton District, through a smart, simple and effective model that ensures every donation stays local, goes further and lasts forever.
To find out about other projects Advance Ashburton has funded, or to find out how you can be a part of making a positive impact through your generosity, please visit www.advanceashburton.org.nz or contact Victoria Johnson, Executive Officer on 021 395 406 or email info@advanceashburton.org.nz
“Being a schoolteacher I have a passion to see children succeed. I feel a real sense of pride seeing the difference being made through children attending the Boost programme. By choosing to donate to my passion through Advance Ashburton my donation will continue to make a difference to the Ashburton District well past my lifetime…” Merle Cooney Donor
For more information about some of the organisations that we have supported through our Community Grants Scheme, click here
For more information about some of the individuals that we have supported through our Scholarship Programme, click here.
For more information about some of the individuals that we have supported through our Scholarship Programme, click here.
