Funding in high demand as recession tightens pockets

Organisations which distribute funds from gambling are struggling to keep up with demand.

Non-casino gaming machine organisations, such as the Lion Foundation and Pub Charity, are trying to continue to fund as many groups and communities as they can.

However, with a loss in profits in the last six months, they have had to turn down applications.

Since the end of last year, a number of community funding groups have cut funds to community groups and organisations because of the recession.

The ASB Community Trust earlier this year announced a projected drop in community funding of 45 per cent and had to freeze funding.

The Auckland City Mission, alongside other groups, will not be receiving any money from the ASB Trust this year.

Pub Charity’s chief executive Martin Cheer wrote in the 2008 Jackpot newsletter: “We are already seeing an increase in applications for funding as alternatives dry up.”

Whilst the Lion Foundation has not seen any increase in applications, grants manager Noela Gibbons says that they have had a “$10 million decrease in the amount of grants made to the community in the past financial year”.

Other gambling funding groups, such as the Lotteries Commission, are finding that their profits are down too.

Lotteries Commission senior communications adviser Kate Richards says it has not yet seen a drop in its Lotto profits. However, its Instant Kiwi profits have dropped, as people start to cut back on their discretionary spending.

The Department of Internal Affairs’ latest gambling statistics show that, between September 30 and December 31, 2008, non-casino gaming machine expenditure dropped by under one per cent, from $232.3 million to $230.7 million.

This reduction in expenditure may reflect economic circumstances.

The Department of Internal Affairs will have a better indication of the impact of the recession on these organisations when the figures from the first quarter of 2009 are released in the next few weeks.