Nau Mai, Haere Mai!
The Momentum Waikato Annual Report 2023 is now available as a PDF on our website.
You can also read the Chair's Report from Neil Richardson plus some of the stories it contains below. It gives you a real insight into what we do, so we hope you enjoy it!
Thank you to an anonymous donor!
Recently we were humbled by the generosity of a donor who wishes to be anonymous. We had never heard from them previously and yet over the course of an evening they donated to 28 of our philanthropic investment funds and transformational projects!
A heartfelt thank you to them from the Momentum Waikato team and the initiators of all those funds and projects.
Clearly, they appreciate the breadth of our charitable offering and are keen to help create 'a better Waikato for everyone, forever'.
To find out more yourself about the range of different activities supported by our 'smart giving' model, check out 'Our Funds' page.
Chair's Report for 2023 - Neil Richardson
From the Momentum Waikato Annual Report 2023 - see full report in PDF.
In the later months of 2023 the Momentum Waikato Board welcomed two new Trustees to our table – Dame Margaret Wilson and Mark Ingle.
Both Margaret and Mark are champions for the Waikato, well known for their long records of leadership and commitment to improving our community.
Early in the new year, 2024, we also welcomed Simon Wickham, as our new Chief Executive.
Simon also has an impressive record of creating strategic clarity and commitment whilst delivering great outcomes for the communities he has served over the last three decades.
Why are these changes to the Momentum Waikato leadership relevant?
Because Momentum, like all community organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand, needs to ‘up our game’ in the face of an increasingly complex and challenging post-Covid world.
Opening doors to health careers for Maaori
Ruth Tan reports on Te Rau Oranga Fund activities since she and Stephen Ng established it at Momentum Waikato in February 2023.
The goal of Te Rau Oranga Fund is to provide inspiration, mentorship and open doors into a health care career for young Maaori. Over the last year there have been several avenues by which we have engaged with Maaori students at Te Kura o Taniwharau-Fraser High School in Hamilton to encourage this vision.
I have been into the school on a number of occasions and brought with me other health care professionals to talk to and inspire the rangatahi with different health career pathways, including medicine, phlebotomy, kaitiaki and medical sales representatives.
Understanding money is path to wellbeing
From the Momentum Waikato Annual Report 2023 - see full report in PDF.
Managing your own finances wisely is a life skill that is becoming ever more important for survival and wellbeing in the modern world, and yet many people don’t know how to make money work for them and often pay a high price for that lack of understanding.
Cambridge philanthropists John and Nicola Kenel see this knowledge gap as a serious issue for the wellbeing of individuals, families, communities and the nation. Treasury recommended in 2010 that financial literacy be added to the school curriculum, but with no sign of that actually happening, they decided to get on with actively supporting financial literacy training in the community.
Save the date for ‘Waahine Toa: RISE’ in June
The Waikato Women's Fund has set a date for its bi-annual fundraising high tea.
Happening on Saturday 15 June at The Atrium at Wintec in central Hamilton, all proceeds raised at ‘Waahine Toa: RISE’ will add to the Women’s Fund and provide grants to organisations that support women and girls in local communities to achieve their aspirations.
The inspirational Te Waka Ruapounamu McLeod speaks at the last Waahine Toa: RISE in 2022.
We do need help from our amazing community to make this a success – funds are raised from both the sale of the tickets and donated items in the auction at the event.
We are on the hunt for attractive things and fun experiences that can be auctioned, so we'd love to hear from anyone willing to donate something special to our cause.
Please contact the organisers at empower@waikatowomensfund.nz if you can help.
Growing support for achieving aspirations
From the Momentum Waikato Annual Report 2023 - see full report in PDF.
The purpose of the Waikato Women’s Fund remains to help women and girls to achieve their aspirations, by growing a philanthropic investment fund and using its income to make grants, while also celebrating and showcasing the power of women, girls and their communities.
The Fund is steered by a diligent voluntary committee of women from all walks of life, who are together guided by its core values as we shape the direction of the Fund.
A change in committee leadership in the 2022-2023 year saw Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau step away and Chantal Baxter taking the helm for a one-year term.
At 30 June 2023, the Women’s Fund had 169 members and a portfolio balance of $223,354, invested as part of the Momentum Waikato regional endowment fund.
Safe and United Communities Together
A statement for Race Relations Day 22 March 2024 by the Waikato Intercultural Fund.
On this Race Relations Day, the Movement for Open Culture Aotearoa (MOCA) solemnly remembers the victims and survivors of the Christchurch Mosque terrorist attacks on March 15, 2019. We honour the courage and resilience of the Muslim community in the face of such horrific hatred and violence.
We also pay tribute to the tireless community activists who continue to advocate for anti-racist measures, challenge inequitable systems and enact change. Their work to confront bigotry and create a more just society inspires us all.
The Movement for Open Culture Aotearoa is an initiative of the Waikato Intercultural Fund of Momentum Waikato, with the aim of offering New Zealanders the opportunity to donate towards growing the funding capacity available to groups working to oppose racism and build an intercultural nation.
Building character with environment of care
From the Momentum Waikato Annual Report 2023 - see full report in PDF.
The Boys’ Brigade once had a much higher public profile, decades ago you would have routinely seen lads out and about in its military cadet-style uniform, but it is still going strong in the community, making a difference in boys’ lives.
The Boys’ Brigade Waikato Trust supports the Brigade’s Waikato units’ leadership development and units’ attendance at inter-regional events.
Trust Treasurer Glenn Johnson said his board set up the Boys Brigade Waikato Trust Fund at Momentum Waikato because they were looking for appropriate ways to get better returns and outcomes from the capital in their care.