Fifteen rainbow initiatives funded through the Rainbow Wellbeing Legacy Fund
Fifteen initiatives focused on improving the mental health and wider wellbeing of rainbow communities have been funded in the 2022 round of the Rainbow Wellbeing Legacy Fund (RWLF).
The RWLF is administered by the Rule Foundation and was established by Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson in 2019 in recognition of the men who were convicted for consensual homosexual activities pre-1986. In 2021, a further endowment was made to the RWLF by the New Zealand Government.
The 2022 round saw up to $299,999 in grants available, including a $99,999 contribution from the Rule Foundation’s partnership with Foundation North, the community trust for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Te Tai Tokerau Northland.
The RWLF focuses on projects and initiatives related to the mental health and wellbeing of Aotearoa’s rainbow communities.
In its third round, the RWLF received 29 applications, totalling over $500,000, in funding requests.
Rule Foundation Co-chairpersons Duncan Matthews and Toni Duder say that the third round of the fund is its biggest yet.
“This year, we were able to fund more initiatives than we have previously, and we’re excited to see their projects lead to positive impacts for their local communities and the wider rainbow community in Aotearoa. The range of initiatives funded this year demonstrate the varied ways that communities are working to address the mental health and wellbeing challenges faced by rainbow communities.”
The fifteen initiatives granted funding are:
Ae Ka Taea e Koe Ltd – $12,000 towards their West Auckland based outreach events for takatāpui
Adhikaar Aotearoa – $20,000 towards their project Resourcing the Next Generation of LGBTQIA+ South Asians
Body Positive Inc. – $11,050 towards their sexual health and peer support online outreach programme
CAYAD (Community Action on Youth and Drugs) – $14,000 towards their Joyful Movement project - personal training course(s) that centre the trans and non-binary community and their needs.
The Charlotte Museum – $15,000 towards an upgrade of their museum technical equipment to help improve knowledge and understanding of rainbow histories, and to help advance the study of LGBTIQ+ history and communities
China Pride NZ – $11,000 towards their study of Chinese rainbow international students titled: Experiences of navigating heteronormativity and racism in Aotearoa New Zealand
Empwr – $18,918 towards their project titled: LGBTQIA+ Takatāpui Inclusive Antenatal Education in Aotearoa
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery – $20,000 towards their project titled: Make Visible Taranaki, an artist and community-led multi-year collaboration to foster long-term creative opportunities for Taranaki’s LGBTQI+ communities
Moana Vā - Navigators of Pacific Pride – $40,000 over two years towards engaging and building the Pacific Rainbow+ community in Otautahi Christchurch
Rainbow Hub Waikato – $15,000 towards their rainbow education outreach programme in the Waikato
RainbowYOUTH – $40,000 over two years towards the rebuild and reestablishment of their Te Moana a Toi Bay of Plenty drop-in centre and services
Same Same But Different Festival – $16,040, over two years towards their event the samesame but different LGBTQI+ Writers Festival
Te Huia and Rangiwherowhero Whānau Trust – $18,000 towards takatāpui/rainbow rangatahi wānanga in Pirongia
University of Otago – $6,000 towards their research project titled Takatāpui/LGBTIQ+ communities' housing experiences
Youthline Auckland – $19,700 towards providing in-person and tele-health counseling for rainbow youth communities.
The fifteen successful applications of the RWLF are set to run their programmes over the next two years.
