Community Support Service

Assistance to not-for-profit community groups

Nelson’s unique Community Support Service for not-for-profit groups aims to strengthen and provide key governance or management services to the network of community groups in the Nelson Tasman region. The organisation's coordinator is local freelance wordsmith Bernice Babe.

Role in the community

Community Support Service's role is to generally make life easier for community organisations by providing help in areas of governance, financial planning, promotion, employment issues, referrals to appropriate expertise and community education. One current project is to survey community groups to see where they’d like the focus to be. 

Coordinator Bernie Babe also has the role of coordinator of the Community & Whanau network. This network has been operating in Nelson for more than 20 years and is open to representatives of all groups interested in the welfare of the local community. More than 200 organisations are involved in the network, which meets monthly. It is a forum where issues, ideas and projects are raised and discussed, and information, ideas and strategies shared.

Funding support

The Community Support Service is funded by the Nelson City Council, the JR McKenzie Trust, Lotteries and the Community Organisations Grants Scheme (COGS).

Contact

Community Support Service is located at the Volunteer Nelson office at 50 Halifax Street. You can call them on +64 3 546 7686 or email Community Support Service. Hours are 9am-2pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays but these times are flexible according to needs.