The Kokiri Centre in South Dunedin is holding a public meeting today to discuss cuts in courses and staff that it has ''reluctantly decided to confirm'' because of a funding deficit.
''Everybody has worked incredibly hard to try and keep the Arai te Uru Kokiri Centre going, but with an almost perfect storm upon us, this has forced the trust to take the step to retrench,'' trust interim chairman Haines Ellison said in a press release.
Mr Ellison attributed the centre's funding problems to ''recent changes within the government sector Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) funding policies''.
The commission confirmed yesterday that funding to the centre had decreased over the past couple of years, from $442,778 in 2013 to $347,254 in 2014, and now $295,166 for 2015.
Commission chief executive Tim Fowler said the funding ''was reduced in 2015 due to under-delivery and since then the institution has returned their funding from the TEC for Youth Guarantee programmes as a result of low enrolments''.
Mr Ellison said there had already been some ''redundancies'' at the centre, which was in a ''holding pattern at the moment''.
''We're still offering some courses, but we had to let some go,'' he said.
The non-profit kaupapa offers several training courses, including small business management and employment skills.
The Kokiri Centre was also leased out for other purposes, including te reo Maori classes, and community events, Mr Ellison said.
He said he was unsure of how many people to expect at the 3pm meeting.
