Always happy to lend a helping hand

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In the early summer of 2020 Northpine marked its ‘20 years in business’ milestone by launching a $20,000 annual fund for use within the Bream Bay community. To be known as ‘Stronger Communities’, applications for assistance would be considered four times a year, with the first grants to be made in April 2020. Within a month of the programme’s launch ‘along came

Covid’, forcing a delay to proceedings.

Fortunately, the glitch was temporary; the first round of grants was announced in September 2020, with a further five rounds since then, despite lockdown miseries and uncertainties that have come with Covid. In total about $30,000 has been distributed so far.

General manager Bruce Larsen says

Stronger Communities is quite separate from the company’s long-term major sponsorships in sport and education.

“Stronger Communities aims to help not-for-profit (NFP) activities, projects and causes that enhance local life in some way.

Grants can be from $250 to a maximum of $1500. Individuals and local groups or organisations can apply.”

He says Northpine’s business ethos includes a genuine commitment to improving the quality of local life.

“The best way we can do that is to lead by example. We take our community responsibilities very seriously. It’s an excellent way to give back to the people of Bream Bay by helping them achieve good things. Covid has certainly added a new dimension to the challenges we all face every day, so we’ll be aiming to ‘keep on keeping on’ with this fund for as long as possible.”

Despite being a manufacturer – and therefore able to operate the sawmill at Level 3 during various lockdowns –navigating the challenges of Covid and the wider business environment has not been smooth sailing for Northpine over the last 18 months.

“Apart from all the uncertainty which makes planning extremely difficult, we’re dealing simultaneously with unprecedented demand issues. Customer focus and satisfaction means everything to us; it’s a constant battle and we have to re-educate merchants, builders and contractors that they now have to place confirmed orders well before their timber is produced. The days of ‘off the shelf’ supply have well and truly gone, at least for the foreseeable future. It will change in time; we just don’t know when.”

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RECIPIENT PURPOSE

Bream Bay College .......................................................... Sailing experience on Spirit of New Zealand Bream Bay Combined Arts Group........................... Pottery kiln Bream Bay Swimming Club ........................................ Prizes Bream Bay-The Learning Community................... Pukapuka party Bream Bay United Football Club.............................. New goalposts Jan Francis........................................................................... Matariki event Liam Thornhill.................................................................... Motocross Linking Hands Inc ............................................................ Health shuttle service Northland Masters Golf ................................................ Tournament expenses NZCB Golf Tournament ................................................ Charity fundraiser Takahiwai Netball Club.................................................. Uniforms Waipu Business & Community Inc.......................... Covid-19 recovery Waipu Croquet Club ....................................................... Equipment Waipu Centennial Trust Board .................................. Heritage project Waipu Lawn Tennis Club.............................................. Equipment and coaching Waipu Lions Club ............................................................. Convention and communitvention and community festivaly festival Whangarei Pipe Whangarei Pipe BandBand SocietSociety................................... TuitionTuition for Brefor Bream am Bay sBay students tudents WaipuWaipu Senior Netball Club Inc .................................. General purposesSenior Netball Club Inc .................................. General purposes YouthYouth Fit Academy .......................................................... Personal development classesFit Academy.......................................................... Personal development classes

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1. Waipu Tennis 2. Youth Fit Academy 3. Takahiwai Netball 4. Pukapuka party 5. Liam Thornhill

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Waipu resident Peter Gibbs, a former marketing professional, now commits a good deal of his time to helping his local community through such groups as Waipu Lions Club, Waipu Business & Community Inc and Waipu Tennis Club. All three have successfully sought funding from Stronger Communities.

“Waipu Tennis had a huge influx of Juniors this season,” he says. “That’s great for the club but we could not afford coaching for the new ones. Northpine solved our problem with a Stronger Communities grant, as they did a year earlier for purchasing new tennis nets and balls. They also enabled ‘Promote Waipu’ to run a letterbox decoration competition that replaced our annual Santa Parade, cancelled because of Covid restrictions.”

Whatever the cause or project, whether it is the work of an individual, small group or formal organisation, if it’s going to help the people of Bream Bay, Northpine is always willing to lend a helping hand.

Reach higher, grow stronger

Stronger Communities is a funding initiative begun by Northpine in 2020 to help the people of Bream Bay.

Grants are made once every three months from applications received each quarter. Applications for the next round of grants close on 16 February 2022 and will be announced in early March.

December 2021 recipients: Bream Bay Swim Club (prizes); Waipu Tennis Club (Junior coaching programme); Waipu Business & Community Inc (Covid-19 recovery assistance)