Zero Waste: Canterbury Community Business Trust

The Canterbury Community Business Trust was established in December 1988 and promotes the use of the community business model as a solution to helping unemployed people who are disadvantaged in the labour market due to age, gender, ethnicity, location or disability and therefore cannot find employment through normal processes.

The community business model sits between the self-employment and employment options. It establishes a competitive business, that is owned by the employees and /or a community entity, which creates genuine jobs and pays meaningful wages.
The advantages of such a business model are that the workforce can be derived from a disadvantaged community and the individual employees can be given commercial, financial and personal support whilst they develop business and employment skills which can be later used in the private sector.

Worker participation is encouraged in the operational and strategic management of the business so that workers obtain a full range of skills.

Since its inception the Canterbury Community Business Trust has helped establish four community businesses operating in the educational, arts, environmental and food industries.

The Trust has access to a large network of support agencies and individuals and can act in an advisory capacity to help individuals or organisations to establish the appropriate legal structures and support infrastructures for each community venture.

Contact:

Lindsay Jeffs
C/- PO Box 4232
Christchurch
Phone: 03 366 9978
Fax: 03 366 9971
Email: