First gift received by UK sister entity!

We are thrilled to share that our sister entity The Christchurch Foundation - NZ Ltd (based in the UK and a registered UK charity) has received its first major gift. The Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Trust is the beneficiary.

The funds will pass from the UK entity, to the NZ one, with specific requirements from the donor as to how the funds are to be used here. All of this process meets the charitable requirements of both sovereign nations. The “heavy lifting” is conducted by the two Foundations, rather than the donor or the causes.

Making it easier for expats to give was one of the primary reasons The Christchurch Foundation was established.

Greater Christchurch’s links to the United Kingdom are strong and this gift is a perfect example of that.

The donor, Professor Robin Carrell Professor Emeritus – Dept. of Haemotology at the University of Cambridge, grew up in Christchurch and has been travelling backwards and forwards to Cambridge since the 1960’s. Although now well settled in Britain he remains very much a New Zealander. Robin's children were born and educated in Christchurch and his grandchildren are all NZ passport holders. He is also uncle of Rt Rev’d Dr Peter R Carrell the Bishop of the Christchurch Anglican Diocese.

Professor Carrell provided some excellent commentary around his motivation to give.

"Christchurch continues to hold a special place for us all, a gentle English garden town, a Cathedral city, in a Pacific setting. The silhouette of the Cathedral at its centre was iconic to both the special character and founding of the city. The dismay to an ex-patriate on hearing of the earthquake damage was not so much at the destruction of a Victorian neo-gothic church but at the loss of a symbol of the vision and hopes of the first settlers, a vision as relevant today as it was in 1850. The news of the plans to reinstate the Cathedral to its recognisable form was greeted with a hallelujah chorus of appreciation in Britain as a whole. It is a pleasure to be able to contribute to the funding. Christchurch will still be the special place we left and the special place we can return to."

While its only early days of work in the UK, we can share that a further $4M NZD is already in the pipeline for us to facilitate from the UK over the coming years.

Want more information?

A new page has been established on the NZ website as an interim measure until the UK entity has established its own. You can email us on hello@Christchurchfoundationnz.org.uk

Congratulations to the UK directors and team!