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Making a difference for our communities

We're excited to be able to contribute financially to a range of community initiatives through our Christchurch Airport Community Fund.


How does it work?

We are a large organisation, but what we do is about much more than us. The communities we serve are top of mind in what we do as overt cheerleaders for the city, region and South Island.

When we support an organisation, event or group, we look for direct benefit to its community members.

Our Community Fund is focused on:

  • sustainability – looking after our place (we're considered world class in our sustainability endeavours and successes),
  • safety and wellbeing – looking after our communities, and
  • innovation – we're not scared to think ‘out of the box’ about something and make a plan to deliver it.

We gift Community Fund donations twice a year. When we assess applications, we look for reflection of the three focus points above. We don’t simply fund running costs or wages, but want to make things happen which make a difference in one of these three areas.

The Community Fund is a combination of Christchurch Airport’s financial contribution and donations collected in wishing wells around the airport. Sometimes we convert a dozen or more currencies!

Please note it would be rare to offer a donation to an organisation which has received one within the previous five years.

Applications for the last round closed at midday 8 March 2024 and are now being considered. Community Fund recipients will be announced here as soon as possible, as will dates for the next round.

How to apply

If you have an idea, a plan, a group or charity which is thinking about the things we think about, you can apply for a future round of Community Fund grants. Please complete our Community Fund Application Form and send it with supporting documentation to communityfund@cial.co.nz

Our latest recipients

The latest round of applications for our Community Fund attracted a record number of applicants, all of whom told of wonderful community conscience and projects, alongside volunteer work to benefit others.

After much deliberation, 18 recipients have been chosen:

  • Adventure Specialties Trust to purchase safety equipment for youth on adventure programmes.
  • Angitu Charitable Trust to introduce more te reo Māori sessions in schools, with students and staff.
  • Athletics Canterbury to install a defibrillator at their Nga Puna Wai facility and train people to use it.
  • Canterbury Home Educators to provide first aid kits and train the volunteers how to use them.
  • Christchurch Rocketeers to expand its programme into community and school-based rocket build workshops.
  • Fencing New Zealand towards hosting the Commonwealth championships in Christchurch for 1,000 young fencers.
  • Heart Kids NZ – Canterbury to complete and distribute care packs gifted to local Heart Families.
  • Keep Christchurch Beautiful to purchase materials for volunteers who construct clean-up projects around the city.
  • Kingdom Ambassadors International Fellowship to offer mental health training during a long weekend for Pacific youth.
  • Made With Love to support the project which makes tiny modern korowai for angel babies.
  • New Brighton Community Gardens Trust towards replacing a grow tunnel for the community gardens.
  • Riccarton Bush Trust to redevelop paths and boardwalks to make the area more accessible.
  • Robbie’s Mind Matrix to expand the mental health programme into more rural areas and trucking groups.
  • Sow A Lyttel Seed to buy materials for embroidery and calligraphy projects to mark the five years since the Christchurch terrorist attacks.
  • Springfield Community Association towards building a pump track for the community and its visitors.
  • St John regional trust board to offer mental health and wellbeing support for your volunteers and community groups.
  • Te Kura o Huriawa Thorrington to establish six edible gardens.
  • Wandersearch Canterbury to provide radio frequencies to people who might wander from home.