South Wairarapa District Council is putting its money where its young people are by giving $7400 to their sports clubs from the Sport NZ Rural Travel Grant.
“The cost of travel has increased dramatically over the past few years and we recognise it is a heavy burden on the shoulders of parents with tamariki and rangatahi who need transport to sports games and training,” says Lina McManus, Council Grants & Funding Coordinator.
The aim of the Sport NZ Rural Travel Grant is to lift some of this weight off parents’ shoulders and reduce the financial pressure by funding fuel vouchers to sports groups and schools. These funds do that as they offset the high cost of travel for five to 18 year olds. The funding can also enable sports clubs to hire transport to local competitions, such as Saturday morning football games.
Five clubs in the South Wairarapa district applied for funds in the most recent round. All were given funding based on youth participants, accessibility to competition and other demographics.
Financial year Name of club/school allocation
2024/2025 Featherston Athletics Club $2,000.00
2024/2025 Martinborough Football Club $1,200.00
2024/2025 Greytown Rugby Football Club $1,200.00
2024/2025 Featherston Junior Football Club $1,500.00
2024/2025 Featherston Rugby Football Club $1,500.00
February 2025 Total granted $7,400.00
The Sport NZ Rural Travel Fund is designated to 35 eligible territorial authorities across Aotearoa, under the Sport NZ funding scheme. Grants are designed to subsidise travel for junior teams aged between five and 18 years, removing the barrier of travel costs to allow participation in regular sporting competitions.
“Travel to games and training can be a barrier to participation. We’re thrilled to support sports clubs in our district and enable our tamariki and rangatahi to participate in their chosen sport or activity,” says Siv Fjaerestad, Lead Advisor, Community Development.
“There is $10,000 more available in the Sports NZ Rural Travel Grants fund for 2024/25. Apply now for the next round and strike while the iron’s hot.”
Applications close 19 June 2025. Find out more at swdc.govt.nz/community/grants/
