A pot of gold containing $400,000 has been given to community organisations and schools which have organised events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of gold being discovered in Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes districts next year and in 2013.
The Central Lakes Trust has approved grants for double the amount it had originally planned to allocate to encourage groups to recognise the milestone anniversary.
It had planned to grant $200,000, but was "overwhelmed by applications and the high level of interest took us by surprise," chief executive Paul Allison said.
Because of the variety of events planned, the funding was doubled, and 37 groups and schools will receive grants, he said.
Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust chairman Martin Anderson, of Cromwell, said the group was delighted with the range of events planned and how many groups and schools were involved so far. With funding from the Central Lakes Trust, the goldfields trust was able to appoint Julie Hughes, of Arrowtown, as co-ordinator and promoter of the celebrations.
"We're very pleased the funding for her role has been extended through to February 2013 and she's done a fantastic job so far of raising awareness and getting people interested in marking this anniversary, and it's going to be a big job next year [2012] when it's all happening, " Mr Anderson said.
His trust was keen to get school children involved in the celebration and was planning a schools gold-panning championship, with the finals coinciding with the New Zealand Goldpanning Championships held by the trust in October.
Schools were also showing a lot of interest in the three-day Nevis Valley celebrations in March next year, where there would be interactive displays, exhibitions and walks in the area, Mr Anderson said.
Ten schools have received grants from the Central Lakes Trust for various trips and activities tied in with the anniversary.
Other grants are for activities and projects, including a monument and plaque in the St Bathans cemetery, a sculpture in Alexandra, Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust cavalcade host town events in Cromwell, museum exhibitions, the restoration of a gold dredge, screening of historic films in Queenstown and profiles of the Teviot Valley's gold-mining families.
The rush to the Dunstan goldfields started in August 1862 and by November that year, miners had worked their way up into the Arrow and Shotover rivers.
The celebrations will span more than a year, reflecting the date gold was discovered in each area.
At the peak of the Otago rush in 1863, the goldfields population was estimated at 15,000.
