Our 2026 community funding round has just closed, with $1,610,142.76 heading to 78 organisations doing important mahi across The West. That’s 53% more recipients than last year, and our biggest-ever Your West Support Fund allocation.
“With so many incredible applicants this year, narrowing down the final recipients wasn’t easy.” says Mark Allen, President of Waitākere Trust. “We look forward to seeing what these groups continue to achieve across the West.”
The Your West Support Fund delivered $1,236,881 across 73 organisations. Nearly three in five recipients (59%) received the maximum $20,000 grant, helping local groups run programmes through the year without having to scramble for every dollar. The Your West Innovation Fund backed five bigger, bolder projects with $373,262 between them. Four of the five recipients are new to the Innovation Fund, which is exactly what that fund was built to do, seed fresh thinking from new corners of the community.
Allan Pollard, The Trusts CEO, said, “It’s fantastic to see so many new recipients coming through with strong ideas and a genuine commitment to improving outcomes in West Auckland. Many of these organisations are deeply embedded in their communities. They know where support is needed most, and this funding helps give them the ability to scale that impact.”
Around 40% of the organisations funded this year are working with children, young people, and whānau. That includes everything from early childhood programmes to youth employment pathways, music therapy, sport, mental health support, and disability services. This reflects what we’re hearing across The West, that backing rangatahi early is one of the highest-impact things any of us can do. Education programmes received the highest average grant allocation at $30,000, with funded organisations spanning STEM, literacy, financial capability, life skills, and creative arts.
Greg Presland, President of Portage Trust says, “You come away from a funding round like this feeling really positive about West Auckland. There are some incredible organisations and community leaders out there, and we’re proud to help support the work they’re doing.”
Thanks to everyone who applied, this year’s round was genuinely tough to narrow down. The quality and breadth of applications was extraordinary, and there’s far more good work happening across The West than any one funding round can support.
To this year’s recipients, congratulations. We’re looking forward to seeing what you do with this. And to everyone who supports our venues and stores, this is what your spend pays for. Thanks for keeping it local.
For the full list of 2026 Your West Support Fund and Your West Innovation Fund recipients see below.
Your West Innovation Fund
| Grant Recipient | Total Funded | Sector | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Te Hononga Akoranga COMET | $112,896.00 | Education | Growing Guardians: a STEM and ngahere programme across six West Auckland schools. |
| Drowning Prevention Auckland | $99,313.00 | Community Wellbeing | Rock-Based Fishers Rescue Programme for one of the most dangerous coastal activities on the west coast. |
| Kindness Collective Foundation | $95,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Ara Rangatahi: pathways to education, employment, and independence for Māori and Pasifika youth. |
| Ministry of Inspiration | $51,053.07 | Education | STEM expansion across West Auckland schools, including RoboCup Jr, NZAquabots, and coding and robotics. |
| Generations Connect NZ | $15,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Feasibility and co-design for intergenerational connection in diverse West Auckland communities. |
Your West Support Fund
| Grant Recipient | Total Funded | Sector | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Mt Albert St Judes Scouts | $12,492.80 | Service and Social Clubs | Replacing a failing retaining wall at the Scout Hall. |
| Age Concern Auckland Trust | $19,250.00 | Social Services | Supporting older adults across The West with connection and protection from social isolation. |
| Awhero Trust | $15,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Continuing the 24-7 Youth Work programme at Henderson High School. |
| Be a Tidy Kiwi Trust | $9,500.00 | Community Wellbeing | A community-based programme to reduce illegal dumping in The West. |
| Bellyful West Auckland (Bellyful NZ Trust) | $9,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Delivering hearty meals to whānau with babies or young children. |
| Belong Aotearoa | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | A mentorship programme for migrant and refugee women in The West. |
| Bethells Beach Surf Lifesaving Patrol | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | A new Rescue Water Craft for patrols at Bethells Beach. |
| Big Brothers Big Sisters Auckland | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | One-to-one mentoring for vulnerable children in The West. |
| Christians Against Poverty | $20,000.00 | Social Services | A Debt Help Caseworker supporting West Auckland whānau with unmanageable debt. |
| Crescendo Trust of Aotearoa | $10,000.00 | Culture and Arts | Youth Music Mentoring for around 150 rangatahi each year. |
| EcoMatters Environment Trust | $20,000.00 | Environment | Sustaining the Ecohub in New Lynn, heart of their environmental work. |
| English Language Partners Auckland Central & West | $20,000.00 | Education | Free English classes for former refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in New Lynn. |
| Fair Food Trust | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Building youth food literacy and community connection through shared meals. |
| First Foundation | $20,000.00 | Education | Pastoral care and guidance for academically talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. |
| Friends of Oakley Creek Te Auaunga Incorporated | $20,000.00 | Environment | Continuing restoration of Te Auaunga as a natural ecosystem. |
| Give a Kid a Blanket Charitable Trust | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Winter Warmth 2026: essential winter items for vulnerable whānau. |
| Glass Ceiling Arts Collective | $20,000.00 | Culture and Arts | Weekly inclusive theatre, singing, and dance for young people with and without disabilities. |
| Graeme Dingle Foundation | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Delivering Kiwi Can to over 2,200 tamariki across West Auckland schools. |
| Hawaiki TU Arts Foundation | $20,000.00 | Culture and Arts | A rangatahi development programme using Māori performing arts. |
| HELP Auckland | $2,578.00 | Social Services | Personal safety programme for tamariki aged three to five in West Auckland preschools. |
| I Love Avondale | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Community programmes building wellbeing and connection in Avondale. |
| Kaipātiki Project Incorporated | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Operating support for Engine Testing Bay Gardens at Hobsonville Point. |
| Kidney Society | $10,000.00 | Health | Supporting 321 West Aucklanders living with kidney failure and their whānau. |
| Life Education Trust Auckland West | $8,000.00 | Education | Helping tamariki across The West make healthy life choices. |
| Little Miracles Trust | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Family/whānau support for West Auckland families with babies in Neonatal Intensive Care. |
| Making Good | $18,500.00 | Community Wellbeing | Warmth for Waitākere Tamariki: winter clothing for children in Ranui, Henderson South, and Massey. |
| Man Alive – Tane Ora | $20,000.00 | Social Services | A Youth Worker delivering counselling and Boys and Girls Alive in West Auckland schools. |
| Manaaki Rangatahi | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Raising awareness for World Youth Homeless Day 2026. |
| Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support | $15,258.00 | Community Wellbeing | Free 24/7 support for West Auckland people affected by crime and traumatic events. |
| Massey Community Trust | $20,000.00 | Social Services | Expanding youth hangouts and consistent local spaces for rangatahi in Massey. |
| Matuku Reserve Trust | $19,517.00 | Environment | Matuku Link Wetland Education for thousands of West Auckland tamariki. |
| Mindfulwell collective | Wāhine Hauora | $8,854.78 | Social Services | Community counselling and wellbeing access for wāhine and rangatahi facing trauma. |
| Mobility Assistance Dogs Trust | $6,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Venue costs for their Henderson base where mobility dogs are trained. |
| MYLAUNCHPAD | $16,000.00 | Culture and Arts | FETU Creative Forum West Edition, a Pacific-led arts initiative for young creatives. |
| Nurturing Families | $18,029.14 | Social Services | Urgent items for safe sleep, safe travel, and basics for West Auckland babies and children. |
| NZ Pan African Broadcasting Corporation Charitable Trust | $6,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Breaking the Cycles: Pan African Community Centre youth workshops in New Lynn. |
| Ranui Action Project | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Operations support to reduce inequities and strengthen wellbeing in Rānui. |
| Ranui Community Centre | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Ranui Community Garden Growth & Sustainability Project. |
| Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust | $17,744.30 | Community Wellbeing | Reinstating two music therapy programmes in West Auckland schools. |
| Redhills Community Kindergarten Incorporated | $19,993.15 | Education | Keeping the doors open for tamariki in Massey and Redhills. |
| RiverCare Group Te Wai o Pareira | $20,000.00 | Environment | Restoring Te Wai ō Pareira through community-led environmental work. |
| Sea Cleaners Trust | $20,000.00 | Environment | Removing plastics, tyres, and illegal dumping from local waters. |
| Seed 2 Harvest Trust | $20,000.00 | Pacific | Empowering West: sustainable kai, wellbeing, and equitable connections through the S2H Centre. |
| Silver Fern MotorSport Charitable Trust | $10,000.00 | Education | Driver mentoring and licensing support for high-needs West Auckland residents. |
| Sport Waitakere Trust | $20,000.00 | Sport and Recreation | Funding the Tuia Waitākere Māori Outcomes Lead. |
| Te Ao Kita | $17,000.00 | Sport and Recreation | Rangatahi Sport & Leadership: a kaupapa Māori, whānau-led hauora programme. |
| Te Karanga Charitable Trust | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Navigators West: free weekly creative youth development at Zeal West, Henderson. |
| Te Pou Theatre Trust | $20,000.00 | Culture and Arts | Te Pou Theatre 2026: a kaupapa Māori-led performing arts venue at Corban Estate Arts Centre. |
| Te Waipuna Puawai | $20,000.00 | Social Services | Two kaupapa Māori programmes strengthening identity and wellbeing for wāhine in The West. |
| The Dust Palace Charitable Trust | $20,000.00 | Culture and Arts | Sustaining Te Kura Maninirau, Aotearoa’s first kaupapa Māori circus school. |
| The Kindness Institute | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Operational support for kaupapa Māori wellbeing programmes in The West. |
| The Nest Collective | $5,000.00 | Social Services | Free pēpi packs filled with essentials for newborns. |
| The ReCreators (Re-Creators Charitable Trust) | $10,000.00 | Education | Te Whare Tipu: a network of community growers working on kai sovereignty. |
| The TYLA Trust | $20,000.00 | Māori | West Auckland operations for early intervention and Youth Justice mentoring. |
| The Whau River Catchment Trust | $20,000.00 | Environment | Empowering landowners across the Whau River catchment as environmental kaitiaki. |
| Think and Be Me Foundation | $19,995.00 | Community Wellbeing | A Junior Anxiety Module reaching around 1,250 tamariki across five West Auckland primary schools. |
| Triangle Park Community Teaching Garden Charitable Trust | $15,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Garden Coordinator contract for a hands-on community teaching garden. |
| Visionwest Community Trust | $20,000.00 | Social Services | A three-day Matariki celebration bringing whānau together. |
| Waitakere Badminton Association | $20,000.00 | Sport and Recreation | Upgrading 40-year-old toilet blocks at the Waitakere Badminton Centre. |
| Waitemata Seagulls Rugby League Football & Sports Club Incorporated | $20,000.00 | Sport and Recreation | Operational costs for a Rānui-based rugby league club serving since 1967. |
| Waitemata Volunteer Fire Brigade | $7,277.52 | Community Wellbeing | Two additional portable incident ground communication radios. |
| Waterview Primary School | $20,000.00 | Education | He Whare Pukapuka Ora: revitalising the school library. |
| Well Foundation | $20,000.00 | Health | Improving prenatal and postnatal education in The West. |
| West Auckland Living Skills Homes Trust Board | $20,000.00 | Social Services | He Rōpū Oranga Hāpori: holistic health and wellbeing for adults aged 65 and over. |
| West Auckland Mental Health Support Trust (aka Te Ata) | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Operational support for Te Ata, a peer-led mental health and addictions service in Henderson. |
| West Auckland Riding for the Disabled | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Widening the culvert crossing to complete a new covered arena project. |
| West Auckland Youth Development Trust | $20,000.00 | Social Services | Boxing-based youth development at West City Boxing for vulnerable rangatahi. |
| Whau Coastal Walkway Environmental Trust | $17,835.00 | Community Wellbeing | Te Whau Pathway Connection: safe walking, cycling, and water activities for school children. |
| Whau Pasifika Trust | $20,000.00 | Pacific | Whau Pasifika Festival 2026: Dream. Weave. Navigate. |
| Wordcore Wayfinders Limited | $6,356.00 | Culture and Arts | Impact storytelling through poetry, performance, and interdisciplinary arts. |
| Woven Earth (Trust) | $20,000.00 | Community Wellbeing | Ongoing services providing practical support to family violence survivors across The West. |
| YMCA North | $7,500.00 | Community Wellbeing | Raise Up West Auckland: youth-led development and leadership. |
| Zeal Youth Trust Aotearoa – West Auckland | $19,200.00 | Community Wellbeing | Expanding the Zeal West Auckland Street Youth Work service. |
