Snow Sports New Zealand Awarded Grant for Adaptive Snow Sports Programme

Queenstown, New Zealand (3 October 2012) - Snow Sports New Zealand is delighted to have been awarded a grant by the SKYCITY Queenstown Casino Community Trust. Recently appointed Snow Sports New Zealand Adaptive Manager, Jane Stevens, attended an award ceremony in Queenstown on Wednesday 3 October where Trust representatives presented her with a cheque for $2,000.

Snow Sports New Zealand is a national sport organisation whose role is to lead and support the growth and development of all snow sports in New Zealand and ensure all New Zealanders have access to experience the freedom of snow sports.

The organisation is proud to run an Adaptive Snowsports Programme that enables people with physical, sensory and cognitive impairments to ski and board at a ski field, removing barriers of participation. The programme is largely reliant on volunteers who act as ‘snow buddies’ for adaptive skiers.

The programme is run at all major ski areas in New Zealand and the SKYCITY Queenstown Casino Community Trust grant will be used to train volunteers on a four-day course to complete the Adaptive Snowsports Certification snow buddy role at The Remarkables.  The $2,000 grant will pay for two instructors to train 25 volunteers for four days.

“The volunteers are an integral part of the Adaptive Snowsports Programme,” says Snow Sports New Zealand Adaptive Manager Jane Stevens, “we couldn’t run the programme without them. We are very grateful to SKYCITY Queenstown Casino Community Trust for awarding this grant so that we can enable more people to become ‘snow buddies’. It’s a very rewarding experience.”

Click here for a video click about the Adaptive Snow Sports Programme at The Remarkables.

Anyone who would like more information on the Snow Sports New Zealand Adaptive Snowsports Programme can contact Jane at [email protected].

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About the SKYCITY Queenstown Casino Community Trust

The SKYCITY Queenstown Casino Community Trust is proud to contribute to the local community of Queenstown by supporting many worthy organisations, both large and small.

To date, SKYCITY Queenstown Casino Community Trust has granted over $900,000 to more than 240 charitable organisations that have undertaken community assistance and development work in the Queenstown-Lakes District area.