As you are all aware the country continues to grapple with the implications of the pandemic with New Zealand still moving up and down the alert levels with the Bay of Plenty currently operating at Alert Level 2.  However, what has become clear is that to enable the Bay of Plenty and New Zealand to move down to Level 1 and perhaps even to open our borders we need to reach the 90% vaccination rate. At BayTrust, we support the government’s minimum 90% target vaccination rate and want to play our part in ensuring that we help achieve this across our key population groups and regions.

What this means for our Bay of Plenty people? 

Vaccinate, Vaccinate, Vaccinate! 

BayTrust has a core purpose to look after our Bay of Plenty communities including from both a health and an economic viewpoint. However, with the low vaccination rates currently seen in the BOP, this proves both a health risk to our communities and an economic risk in that we may be left behind other regions with higher vaccination rates.

In August, the Trust set aside funding for Covid Rapid Recovery across our region and Trustees have now agreed to use some of this funding to help support groups that have innovative community projects to encourage higher vaccination rates, and which require immediate and flexible funding. If you do have any projects that meet these criteria, then please contact BayTrust staff for further information.

Business as usual

Staff are back working from the office on staggered days. There is minimal face to face meetings whilst we are at Alert Level 2, however, will be available via email, through our website and by telephone. There will be no noticeable impact on any of our operations and we are committed to business as usual. 

Lastly, as CEO of BayTrust, I wish to advise that our team is here to help and support any organisation over this uncertain time and confirm that all BayTrust staff are currently either vaccinated or in the process of getting vaccinated.

As always if you have any questions, please contact a BayTrust staff member or me if you wish to discuss.

Ngā mihi

Alastair Rhodes
BayTrust CEO
E: alastair@baytrust.org.nz
P: (07) 578 6546
M: 021 921 737