Changes to Mākara Peak Supporters Membership

At the March meeting of the Mākara Peak Supporters Management Committee, a motion was put forward and agreed to transition away from a paid membership model for the Mākara Peak Supporters.

We really appreciate all the people who saw value in becoming a paid Supporter over the last few years. We’ve worked really hard to put your membership fee to good use in the park, with plenty of new track built, natives planted and pests eradicated.

However, having a paid membership model comes with responsibilities and administrative overhead that is difficult to manage for a volunteer organisation of our size. The number of people becoming members has held steady over the last few years at around 250-300 people, which is a tiny fraction of the number of people who make up the 100,000 visits to the park each year.

In future we will offer a ‘free’ membership for anyone interested in supporting Mākara Peak, with the opportunity to financially support the park if you wish, at a level that suits you, through a donation, participation in events, or purchase of merchandise. We’ll be focussing our fundraising on specific projects, similar to the successful givealittle campaigns we’ve run for the Wild At Heart Suspension Bridge and the Skills Park upgrade.

As a result, we’ve put a stop on all memberships renewals, and issued refunds to anyone who has joined or had their membership renew since 1 March 2021.

Please ignore any emails you received today from our membership system saying that your membership has expired. It’s a buggy piece of software which is part of the reason for this change!

The new membership system will be up and running by 1 July 2021. More details on that to come in the near future.

Mākara Peak and Wellington Trails Trust

The Mākara Peak team are working behind the scenes with Wellington Trails Trust on ways for trail users to financially support their favourite trails, and get some great rewards in return.

If you’re not already, sign up to the Wellington Trails Trust mailing list at https://wellingtontrailstrust.co.nz/ so that you’re the first to hear about all the exciting developments happening across the Wellington trail network.

Any questions or concerns drop us a line at supporters@makarapeak.org.

Simon O’Brien

Chair

Makara Peak Supporters