The Waikato Community Trust,
known as Trust Waikato, has
a rich and vibrant history of
philanthropy in the Waikato
region.
Trust Bank Waikato Community Trust (the
Trust) was established under government
statute on 30 May 1988. The Trust was
created as a means for the Waikato
community to own its regional bank Trust
Bank Waikato
1
(the Bank). The Bank
consortium had a long history of philanthropy
in the region. Between 1959 to 1988 it had
donated a total of $2million to community
projects. In 1989 this function then moved
to the Trust which began distributing a
percentage of the Bank’s profits to community
groups in the region.
Appointments to the Trust Board were made
by the Minister of Finance (or by delegated
authority). Legislation stated that trustees
should serve a four-year term and may be
reappointed for a further four years. The
inaugural Board comprised 10 trustees
2
,
led by founding chair and trustee David
Braithwaite who served a 10 year term from
1988 to 1998.
The trustees came from across the region
and possessed a wealth of skills, knowledge
and experience in the business, community
and voluntary sectors. They fulfilled a vital
role within the Trust: as well as overseeing
the Trust’s capital fund, they decided which
applicants received donations.
Initially the administrative functions of the
Trust were carried out by bank staff. Over
time the Trust made its own appointments
of staff and external advisors, starting with
Geoff Balme who was appointed as the
Trust secretary in 1992. Chief Executive
Ken Gordon was employed in 1995 until he
resigned in 2005 and Dr Bev Gatenby was
then appointed to the role.
the History of the
Waikato Community Trust
1 Trust Bank Waikato was previously known as Trusteebank Waikato and originally known as the Waikato Savings Bank.
2 David Braithwaite (chair), Malcolm Brooker, Bertha Carter, Joseph (Bill) Dillon, Martin Gallagher, Lynne Holder,
Bruce Hosking, Monica Leggat, Sir Robert Mahuta and Anthony (Rufus) Rogers.
The value of the Trust assets at 31 March 1989
was $21.3million. In this year, annual donations
totalled $380,670 and by 1994 had risen to
$1.1million. It was in 1994 that the Trust started
moving towards greater autonomy from the
banking industry. It began by floating an initial
parcel of shares on the open market. The
remaining shares were then sold to Westpac
Bank in 1996 for $156million and the Trust
exited the banking industry. To communicate
this ‘breaking of ties’ with the banking world,
the Trust changed its name to The Waikato
Community Trust, known as Trust Waikato.
Trust Waikato's purpose was (and is) to help
organisations carry out charitable, cultural,
philanthropic and recreational projects of
benefit to people in the greater Waikato.
The Trust’s funding area includes the
districts of Thames-Coromandel, Hauraki,
Matamata-Piako, Waipa, Waikato, South
Waikato, Waitomo, Otorohanga, Ruapehu
and Hamilton. The Trust acknowledges that
this area includes much of the lands of the
Tainui waka and thus the people of Waikato,
Raukawa, Hauraki and Maniapoto.
The Trust established donation funding
priorities in the following categories: culture,
education, sport and recreation, welfare, youth
and miscellaneous.
From 1989 through to 2007, annual donation
rounds were held. Then from 2008, the Trust
introduced three donation rounds per year
held in February, June and September. This
enabled groups to apply at a time appropriate
to them and to know their donation outcomes
more quickly.
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h i s t o r y o f t h e w a i k a t o c o m m u n i t y t r u s t
