Vital Signs 

You may have seen recent media coverage around our research called Vital Signs.  This work is key to us being able to deliver informed donor led philanthropy.

Vital Signs is a snapshot of life in Greater Christchurch: how we are feeling, what we are doing and what's important to us.  It measures how well we're doing on a number of key indicators including health, prosperity, our sense of community, and how well we take care of our environment. It is a tool used to understand the community's perceptions of the place where they live.

Community Foundations around the world use this framework to inform our thinking, to assist our donors and partners in making informed philanthropic decisions, and to benchmark against.  It uses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) as the base framework.

We were able to fund this project predominantly through the generous support of a UK based donor. Thank you also to Research First for their probono support and ChristchurchNZ for their contribution.  It is our intention to undertake this research on a regular basis so as to continue to understand the priorities for the residents of Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri.

The report has greatly informed our thinking and is the basis of our revised strategy.  We now have three pillars to our work:  Kaitiakitanga (stewardship of the environment), Vibrant Ōtautahi (increasing the exciting elements within our city) and Opportunities for All (addressing inequality).  

Work is now underway on a number of initiatives in these three areas.

The report, and a subsequent post Covid 19 refresh, can now be downloaded from our website. Below are a selection of infographics which we thought you might find interesting.

If you want to know more about what's important to greater Christchurch, to help inform your philanthropic decisions, please contact Nic.

Our People, Our City Fund Distribution Completed

Friday the 27th of November is Raf Manji's last day working for The Foundation. Over the last year he has led our advocacy work for the Muslim Community.  

By the end of November we will have completed the distribution of the pass through funds of the Our People, Our City Fund, which was crowd funded.  The distribution framework for this was developed in conjunction with the community, through the Listening Project that Raf ran in 2019.

Two Legacy Funds have been established with the support of our donors: One is the Education Fund which will support over 100 children of the deceased and shot for at least 20 years.  The Foundation will administer this for its tenure, at no cost.

The other is a new Community Recovery Trust to support long-term recovery and healing in the community. This is a community led Trust, independent of The Foundation.  Trustees have been appointed to oversee this.  We will continue to provide technical support and advice as requested. The funds remaining in the Community Support Fund will be transferred to this entity.

Below is a summary of the money we have collected and distributed under the banner of Our People, Our City.  You can also see other large gifts that were added into the framework, at the donors request.

Please note that in addition to what is outlined below we have collected and distributed an additional $4.44M in funds which are directly related to the terror attack.  In these instances the donors have specified how the funds where to be used.

We would like to thank Raf for his dedication over the last year and a half.  He has worked tirelessly and has been an excellent advocate for the community. 

The Foundation also acknowledges and thanks The Rt Hon. Jacinda Ardern and the Hon. Lianne Dalziel for their trust in us to fulfil this important role on their behalf. 

Te Ahu Pātiki

The Christchurch Foundation is proud to supporting the Rod Donald Banks Peninsula Trust who are purchasing a substantial block of land on Banks Peninsula.  The land includes the two highest peaks Mt Herbert/ Te Ahu Pātiki and Mt Bradley.  The intent is to bring it into public ownership in July 2021.

This project is strategically aligned to our Kaitiakitanga Programme, which has spun out of Vital Signs.  We know from this research that a significant majority of residents of Greater Christchurch want a greener, more sustainable city, as such we are actively supporting entities like the Trust who are doing game changing work in this space.  

The land is to be protected in perpetuity with a conservation covenant and managed to facilitate natural regeneration of native forest. 

The Te Ahu Pātiki project will achieve:

• A highly visible landscape transforming to native forest
• A biodiversity hotspot completing a 1700ha network of continuous protection
• A protected catchment from summit to sea – ki uta ki tai
• A stunning recreational asset for walking, biking and climbing,  and
• Secure public access on Te Ara Pātaka, the Ōtautahi/Christchurch to Akaroa tramping network

The Trust is looking to raise $600,000 to reach a target of $1,500,000 - the amount needed to purchase the land and establish this wonderful place as a conservation park where native forest can flourish once again and people are free to walk and explore. 

You can gift to this project, and see progress against the fundraising target, via our website.