4 AUGUST 2014

NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 88

2461

THE COMMUNITY TRUST OF MID & SOUTH CANTERBURY INC

CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2014 (Continued)

The major disbursements during the year were Mid and South Canterbury Schools $136,165, $100,000 each to the Ashburton Museum & Historical Society and Friends of Alps 2 Ocean Inc, $75,000 to the Lake Tekapo Footbridge Society Inc, $35,000 to the Mania-o-Roto Scout District, $30,000 each to Society of St Vincent de Paul Ashburton and Timaru, $20,000 each to Barnabas Christian Trust, Sport Canterbury Mid & South Canterbury, and the Timaru Indoor Bowls Assn.

The Board considered 133 applications this year compared to 142 the previous year.

We canvassed applicants for comments on the application process during the year and there were no requests for major change to the current system. The Board consider applications at their monthly meetings and are working towards an on-line application process which is currently being trialled.

The Community Trust, when considering applications, are mindful of three criteria:

1. The quality and/or significance of the application to meet community needs
2. The donation budget which is determined by the income of the previous year
3. The guardianship of an intergenerational funding base and the need to grow the fund for the future

Trustees

There was one change to the Board of Trustees during the year. The Associate Minister of Finance appointed Karen Simpson from Lake Tekapo to replace Nicola Hornsey who had completed two terms as a Trustee, a total of eight years service. The Board appreciated the leadership and drive Nicola gave during her term of service. This included five years in the role of Chairperson and much input into restructuring the Trust, along with hosting the New Zealand Combined Trusts Conference in Timaru. Karen Simpson’s term on the Community Trust commenced on 1st June, 2013.

During the year the Associate Minister invited the Board to confirm our Board size preference. This had been a topic in a Community Trusts’ survey conducted by the Department of Internal Affairs. Our response was that the Board size remain with the status quo (ten members) and this enabled regional location aspect to be covered. With a down-sizing of the Trustee numbers it would be more difficult to give coverage of the many communities that exist in the Community Trust’s territory. It was certainly not our belief that a smaller number of Trustees would make for better governance decisions and a better working Board.

Staff

The Board do acknowledge the input of our staff to the smooth functioning of the Board. Their application to tasks at hand ensures that the standards set by the Board are attained. The staff team is very ably led by Liz Shea, Chief Executive Officer. The team is Clive Callow, Community Relations Manager and Sally Marsh, Office Administrator. We do appreciate their dedication and efforts to have the timely reports and material available for the Trustee’s consideration.

25th Anniversary

The year 2013 was the 25th Anniversary of the Community Trust and a decision was made to mark this milestone by commissioning Carol Angland to write the history of the Community Trust’s first 25 years. The completed book should be published towards the end of this year.

Peter O’Leary

CHAIRPERSON