The Trust Can Fund:

• Promotion or delivery of community welfare
• Advancement of education (including formal education, training and research)
• Advancement of religion 
• Promotion of arts and culture
• Provision of health services that are available to the general public
• Preservation of heritage or enhancement of our environment 
• Provision of public facilities and amenities
• Advancement of community recreation
• Provision of purposes beneficial to the community that are charitable, affordable and easily accessible.

The Trust Does Not Fund:

• Individuals except by way of the annual Central Lakes Trust Tertiary scholarship programme
• Projects or services that do not meet charitable criteria
• Seeding investments for businesses
• Political organisations or lobby groups
• Projects where local or central government would be the natural source of funding
• Commercial organisations
• Repayment of debt
• Retrospective projects i.e. completed projects or projects that have already commenced
• Operational costs of Territorial Authorities and Central Government
• Informal groups for amounts over $2,000
• Endowments
• The GST component of costs for GST registered organisations.
• An organisation's project that generates funds which are distributed to a third party. However such events or activities may be eligible for a Guarantee Against Loss.
• Sponsorships

Informal Groups

• An 'informal group' is an organisation that is not a Trust, Incorporated Society, Company or any other type of entity formed under New Zealand legislation. An informal group may be involved with managing a one-off project or a series of community activities. Generally an informal group would have a bank account, but would not own any assets of significant value. An 'informal group' may be eligible to apply for a grant up to $2,000. For amounts over $2,000, groups need to be incorporated or formalised.
• Service clubs cannot apply for operational costs but may be eligible for funding support for community projects for which they are fund raising.

Progress on the Gibbston Trail