More than $206,000 in grants have been awarded to three Tauranga schools and 21 sports clubs across the city by the New Zealand Community Trust.

Awarded in February/March, the grants range from $5000 to $20,000 and will help clubs and schools cover the costs for new equipment, facility upgrades, first aid services at events, and more.

The big winners were Tauranga Motorcycle Club, Argos Gymnastics Club, Arataki Sports Club and Tauranga City United AFC, who each received grants of $20,000.

Tauranga Motorcycle Club, which is based at the TECT All terrain Park and has a membership of about 250 riders, have used their grant to purchase a new John Deere tractors with a front loader to help maintain and groom their tracks.

President Kelvin Meredith says the tractor has a purchases the club's targeted for a while, and they were able to buy it thanks to the NZCT grant plus a $20,000 grant they also received from the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust.

'Up until last week we'd relied on borrowing family and friends' tractors, or paying to get grooming done which can get expensive when you're transporting excavators. So the tractor is going to be really helpful for the club.

'We're stoked, really happy. A big thank to NZCT and TECT, it's great to see the money going back into the community.”

While Argos Gymnastics will be using their grant towards the purchase of new equipment for the Judea-based club which covers a wide variety of gym sports and has about 650 members.

Manager Greer Meyer says it feels 'pretty great” to be able to purchase new T-Bars and safety mats for the club.

'Our gear is quite outdated, well over 10 years old, so we've definitely been needing to update them and gymnastic isn't a very cheap sport.

'It's going to be really great for our members, and for the competitions that he host here. We have some very senior gymnasts travel from around New Zealand to compete here, and this will mean they have the quality equipment that they need.”

Greer says it's going to take up to 12 weeks for their new equipment to arrive and they had been trying to keep it as 'a bit of surprise”, until SunLive came along and ruined everything.

'The grant is just a really great thing for the club to receive, it's really exciting.”

Established in 1998, NZCT is the country's largest gaming trust and the largest funder of amateur sports participation in New Zealand.

About 80 per cent of grants are awarded for sporting purposes, with the remaining 20 per cent going towards other important causes including rescue and lifesaving services, community groups, education and culture.

In the 12 months to September 30, 2016, NZCT distributed $40.9 million to sporting, local government and community groups nationwide, with many of these groups relying heavily on volunteers and have limited budgets.

To learn more about the New Zealand Community Trust and how to apply for a grant, visit www.nzct.org.nz

TAURANGA NZCT GRANT RECIPIENTS FOR FEBRUARY/MARCH: