The coffers of Maniototo Plunket will not be dipped into to aid failing groups, as was feared before the restructuring of its parent organisation.
Last month Plunket Otago was consolidated into a single national organisation, Plunket New Zealand, which plans to become a charitable trust by the end of the year.
Before the decision was made last November, the Maniototo group, based in Ranfurly, was concerned changes could impact its finances.
Maniototo Plunket past secretary Kate Dowling said none of the changes had affected the group yet.
``Everything is running fine, and we're still getting support through the Otago branch, so that's great. The changes were all to do with fundraising and supporting areas in need. Because we've been able to fundraise successfully we thought we might lose the money we had, but that hasn't happened.''
Plunket South Island regional operations manager Sonya Gale said the changes would not affect Maniototo Plunket's finances at a local level.
``As Plunket is now a single unified organisation, funds are held and managed centrally. Community services in Maniototo will be supported to operate in the same way as last financial year. When the Maniototo group raises funds for a specific purpose, the funds will be used for that purpose.''
The group still had its own individual budget lines as part of the national budget, she said. There were plans to employ a local community services co-ordinator to provide close-to-home support for Maniototo volunteers.
The changes had been made partly to make it easier for Plunket groups that struggled to find enough voluntary board members, so were unable to raise funds and meet the needs of their local communities.
