I am honoured & pleased to be presenting the annual review on the activities of the Eastern Bay Community Foundation for the year 2018/19. There has been considerable work and plenty of participation by all members through out the year. Not as much progress as we would have wished, but the profile of the Foundation is reasonably well established throughout the Eastern Bay Region.
Executive Officer Rosemary Sloman has worked tirelessly in the interests of the Foundation, using all her skills to extend our reach, so that our contacts which we look to see become donor members or at least friends assisting to spread our information. Rosemary will cover her activities.
Gae Newall continues in her role as minute secretary for the Foundation, and we are fortunate to have her time, along with her many skills, looking after this important office for us. Her corporate and meeting knowledge are a boon to us in many ways.
Unfortunately as with any organisation, we have farewelled two stalwart Trustees during this year. Helen Stewart represented the Kawerau region, and was a strong contributor because of her experiences in many other organisations. Robyn Towersey, one of the earlier Opotiki Trustees, sadly lost her husband Jim and then because of her own health, moved to Rotorua to live near family, and therefore had to resign. Robyn and Jim were great community minded folk with ample philanthropic drive in assisting organisations within their region. Robyn has been single minded in her approach to see the Foundation grow and flourish across the Eastern Bay. Both Robyn & Jim have created endowment funds within our Foundation, to support their personal causes. A great example to us all.
We have been fortunate to be able to recruit two new Trustees who will make a long and substantial contribution to the growth of the Foundation. Robyn Woolsey from the Opotiki & Ohope region and Viv Barr from the Awakeri / Edgecumbe area are already settled as part of the Trustee team.
Another important achievement for us has been that Luke Stewart of Holland and Beckett agreed to take up the role of honorary legal counsel for our Foundation. We welcome his expertise and ready agreement to this position as he has had a previous association working alongside the Acorn Foundation in the Western Bay and is also fully conversant of the benefits and purpose of gifting through Community Foundations. His support is an essential cog in the wheel of our success.
On the business front, we are pleased to report that during the past year with our fund growth well passed the $400,000 mark, Craig Investment Partners have taken our portfolio on board as an investor. At a crucial time, we moved all of our donor funds from bank interest to investment funding. We appreciate the input and support from Guy Malthus, of Craigs Investment Partners through this journey to the next level of investment.
Within our structure we now have two sub-committees looking after specific financial matters. There is the Finance & Investment Committee chaired by Miles Mander tasked with the oversite of the Foundation investment portfolio and financial transactions. The Allocations & Grants committee, chaired by Jacqui Hughes, has recently been established and produced the set of policies by which the Foundation having received applications from the community for funds, will make distributions. I am delighted that both of these Committee Chairs will report on the activities of their teams to this meeting.
During this year Trustees examined the Foundation’s Administration Company and the role it held within our organisation. There were pros and cons for the Admin Company being retained, but on balance Trustees decided that it was appropriate to wind up the Company and replace it with a second bank account within the Foundation, and for the staff employed by the company to have their contracts transferred to the Community Foundation, This move is underway now.
There are a few little niggles which we need to work through. One being the Galatea / Murupara area which sits within the Whakatane District Council Ratepayer region and traditionally is associated with Eastern Bay, has strong dairy company activity via Fonterra’s plant in Edgecumbe, are currently being serviced by Geyser Foundation from Rotorua as a part of their region. Similarly, the Acorn Foundation have long held role on behalf of the Tindall Foundation to allocate a portion of the Tindall Foundation Community Funds within our Region. Now we have our own Foundation it would be advantageous for us to gain the media coverage possible through making these annual distributions ourselves on behalf of the Tindall Foundation. This would certainly improve our profile across the Opotiki, Kawerau and Whakatane Districts.
I wish to place my appreciation on record for the commitment and contribution by our volunteer Trustees. We have had a number of activities through the year at both ends of the region which have been fully supported at all times. Trustees are all busy people, but gift the time required to support all Foundation activities. In particular we note the sterling work done by Deputy Chairman Barney Gray as the treasurer. He has worked many hours setting up the financial records in a manner which will serve well as our funds grows, and overseen the preparation of the annual accounts
Our thanks go to Gae Newell the Trust minute secretary. Because of your full-time work, it is not easy to make it to Trust meetings, so Gae we do appreciate the call on your time, but also the superb job you do with minute preparation. As Chair at meetings I wish to record my thanks for your knowledge and support as we work through agendas.
To our Executive Officer Rosemary, we are indebted to you for your commitment to the Foundation, and your flair for making all our activities appropriately well set up and promoting the role of the Foundation within the Community. You have good skills and a great deal of local knowledge which you put to good use for us. We are committed to working with you to ensure our donor membership continues to grow, as that is the very essence for our stability and future security.
In conclusion I thank you all for your interest and support. We are still in our infancy in terms of activities, growth and service within the community. However by all working together I believe as a team we can make good progress.
Thank you.
Douglas Bull.
Chairman.
Download the Chairman's Report
The Good News….
How wonderful would it be if our world was in better shape than it currently is? The madness and mayhem that is beamed into our lounges every night, the hate speech, small mindedness and destruction of our natural environments…along with negative social media messages coming thick and fast really do need to be nudged off centre stage. We all need to be the champions of all that is good in our local communities. I am in a fortunate poaition to hear the good news stories, the ones that tell of how the generosity of one person, has the power to change the outcome for not just one other person…but many, over and over again.
Sometimes it is hard to see the impact that one person can make, and we ask ourselves how can I make the changes I want to see? Being generous does not just sit with the likes of Gareth Morgan and Sir Bob Jones, being generous is something we can all be a part of. It is my role to help local people see the impact that a small gift can make in the long term transformation of our very own back yard and become champions of all that we hold dear, right here in the Eastern Bay.
New Endowment Funds
In 2018 the Eastern Bay Community Foundation worked with caring individuals and community organisations within our region to set up new endowment funds. Robyn Towersey, a dedicated past Trustee set up two funds, one to celebrate her late husband’s passion for music, with an endowment fund to benefit students studying music at Opotiki College. The Jim Towersey QSM fund will provide access to specialist tuition and instruments to take students to a new level. The Robyn Towersey QSM fund will benefit the cancer related charity Look Good Feel Better, for which Robyn has been a long standing advocate and dedicated volunteer, right here in Whakatane.
Both Whakatane High School and Opotiki College launched Alumni endowment funds, whereby past students have the opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ to ensure a more level playing field in terms of resources and access to student learning activities, that are sometimes out of reach financially for some students.
Arts Whakatane also added significant funds to their endowment fund that champions excellence in the Arts …across the spectrum of all artistic genres, for youth in the Whakatane District. A new fund that has taken a couple of years to come to fruition: The Opotiki Growers Fund will make a significant difference in the Opotiki District when it is launched in November, thanks to the generosity of local Kiwifruit Orchardists.
Bequest Funds
While it is difficult to know exactly who has chosen to support the community or the cause of their choice via our Community Foundation, we do know that donors who have already signed up to make a bequest to a cause that is important to them have collectively committed in the region of $9-10 million dollars to date. So when these bequests come to mature, our communities stands to gain significantly. It is the aim of our Foundation to grow our bequest funds, and it is my role to work alongside our donors to find their passion and ensure that their legacy is a good fit, for the passions and interests they have held in their lifetime. Donors tell me…their gift brings them a real joy, knowing they are able to help improve the lot of the people and places right here in the Eastern Bay.
Causes:
Education, from early childhood through to adult learning, scholarships and apprenticeships, essential health services from Plunket to Hospice, surf life-saving to dementia support, environmental improvements, including a predator free habitat for our native species, supporting the visual and theatrical arts and music, being good guardians of our history and heritage, championing science and research, supporting important community facilities …the range of funds is unlimited.
Vital Impact Fund:
This year we have also encouraged residents who do not need the governments Winter Energy Payment to consider donating this to the Vital Impact Fund, where this is able to make a difference to others within our community.
Opportunities:
In February this year, the opportunity arose to present the Community Foundation philosophy and the benefits of the endowment fund gifting model to investors from the Eastern Bay who engage with Craigs Investment Partners. A successful meeting at the Ohope Golf Club.
We also met with the Acorn Foundation, (Western Bay Community Foundation) responsible for distributing the Tindall Foundation funds into the Eastern Bay of Plenty. We were able to take part in a feedback session to learn of the difference this funding stream has had across our region, resourcing a broad range of community based services. There have also been opportunities to present information to many community groups, to spread the word on effective giving and how simple it is to start a fund that is protected and nurtured for the long term benefit of the wider community.
Profile Raising
The Eastern Bay Community Foundation hosted a movie night at Whakamax Theatre in March, with a full theatre turn out for the film Celia, the life story of the late Celia Lashlie and her important work in changing and shaping the lives of young men in New Zealand. This film dovetailed really well with the outcomes of our Vital Signs Research released in early 2018.
New Website:
This year we have launched our new website, which is far more user friendly. This is updated regularly with our stories and news. Our social media (Facebook page) also plays an important role in keeping the public in the know about our activities. Thanks to the support of Dan @ KLIXO for working with us and providing a significant reduction in fees to support our activities in building a resilient and supported community.
Once again, I would like to acknowledge the support I have received from our Trust Chair, Doug Bull and fellow Trustees, who volunteer their skills and time to build a resource for the future resilience and prosperity of our region. I am willingly supported in my role by the work of Gae Newell, our minute secretary and professional archivist of all activities associated with the history and operations of the Eastern Bay Community Foundation. Also Prue Gray who has volunteered to set up the data management system selected by the trustees to keep a track of all of the EBCF activities.
Thank you to ‘Friends of our Foundation’: Peter & Marnie Anstis, Christine Bowering and our many sponsors whose gifts in kind are truly appreciated.
I am fully committed to ensuring our Community Foundation is top of mind, for local people considering an enduring gift that will truly make a long term difference in our region.
Rosemary J Sloman
Executive Officer
Download the Executive Officer's Operation Report to the Community 2019
Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.