Environment Society ready to buy
The South Coast Environment Society has secured the funding needed to buy the building it is housed in.
Riverton Environment Centre co-ordinator Robyn Guyton said she was grateful to both the local and international communities which had rallied together, donating money for the society to buy its building from the landlord. Last month, the society put out plea to its followers and a supporters, asking for donations and pledges to buy the building it has rented for the past 15 years, after the landlord told the group they could have a month to get the funds together before it went on the market.
Through PledgeMe, Givealittle and donations into their bank account, about $60,000 was raised.
The sale of the building will go through on February 28.
The society could now embark on projects it had wanted to do for a while, like putting a storage shed at the back of the property for heri- tage seeds, and could focus its attention back to its other projects, she said.
People from all over New Zealand and 20 different countries contributed to the project and others were still contacting the society to say they wanted to donate. The highest amount of money donated was $5000, a sum which was given by four separate individuals and groups.
There had been a lot of sleepless nights worrying about the society’s future. ‘‘We had no choice but to dive in and do it,’’ she said.
The society needed to come up with $75,000 to buy the building, and the shortfall was being covered by some people who had given the society interest-free loans. The group would try to repay the loans by the end of March, Guyton said.
Verbal reports from engineers suggested it was likely some earthquake strengthening would be needed, but a full report was still to be completed, Guyton said. ‘‘We’re not going to ask for any more funding from the community,’’ she said.