Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation
Our Vision
The Vision of the Foundation: Ensuring Our Children’s Future Forever.
The Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation exists to ensure our children’s future forever. We support the vital work delivered by the Centre, by establishing a fund to ensure the Centre can be supported in perpetuity.
This fund provides sustainable and reliable financial support, allowing the Centre to achieve their long-term goals, and continue to deliver best possible care to families and children in need.
The Foundation was set up in 2005 by a group of passionate and skilled volunteers, to develop an endowment fund to help the Centre decrease its reliance on annual fundraising to meet its operational costs. Today, along with the Centre, the Foundation has a strategic focus on raising funds for five key areas that will support the Centre to protect and enhance the mana of every child who walks through their doors for generations to come.
Our Priority Areas
The Foundation has worked with the Centre to develop priority areas of need. Donors’ can choose an area to give aligns with their wishes.
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When Hugh Heber Cholmondeley had the foresight to set aside land and the original homestead, he gave a gift to the future children of Canterbury, and donations ensure the facilities that make Cholmondeley a haven for whānau/families can be sustained, maintained, and grown.
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With 451 children staying at the Centre each year, across an age range of 5 to 13 years old, equipment and resources are thoroughly put to the test each day. Donations allow the Foundation to provide the Centre with the items they need for everyday life, making it easier for the staff to best look after the children in their care.
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Donations are essential to support those working or volunteering at the Centre, ensuring Cholmondeley is leading best practice in the field, and producing research-based evidence to support that. Prioritising the development and growth of staff will only benefit the children who use our facilities. Donating today ensures we can invest in the right people who believe deeply in this work.
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Donations ensure that the Centre can provide support for whānau/family units in a responsive way, that works for them. The work done and support given at the Centre has a positive effect on our children, but the time they spend at Cholmondeley is limited. Having funding to implement Whānau Support means that the Centre’s impact can extend beyond the children’s time in care, into the family home the child returns to.
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Founded in 2005, this Endowment is locked down, to be available in perpetuity, to ensure Cholmondeley is here to stay. It is the safety net to ensure our children’s future forever, immune to economic or social upheavals. Donations that are allocated to the Fund as a priority area enable the Foundation to maintain a safe space for generations of Cantabrian children and families to come.
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While the Centre and the Foundation work closely together to determine which areas of the Centre will need the most financial support, the day-to-day realities mean that there will always be needs over and above what has been expected. Donations to this area will support any unforeseen costs, on a case-by-case basis, as requested by the Centre.
Support the Foundation
Our work relies on the generosity of our community. You can do your part to ensure this incredible facility is here for future generations by donating to Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation, through donations in your lifetime or a gift left in your will.
The Cholmondeley Children’s Centre has kept its doors open to the children in need for almost 100 years, thanks to the generosity of the public. Whilst the Centre receives government funding and direct donations for operational costs, we as the Foundation exist to support the Centre’s long-term goals, and relieve the pressure on the Centre’s reliance on fundraising activities. That’s why we have the ambitious goal of raising $10 million by 2025.
Joining our Supporter Programme
We invite you to join us in our mission with a gift through our Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation Supporters Programme. Through our partnership with you, as an individual or family, we would like to work with you to make sure your donation can have the greatest impact possible. Our priority areas provide guidance on how donations to the Foundation will support the strategic goals for the Centre, and we welcome donations to these different areas of focus.
We would also like to make sure you know how your money has been spent, where your money has made a difference, and show our gratitude for your gift in a way that is meaningful to you.
Donors to Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation can claim tax credit on cash donations, as Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation has donee status.
If you are considering supporting the Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation with a significant gift - thank you. The Foundation’s purpose is to Ensure our Children’s Future Forever, and we can only do that with the support of generous donors like you.
Leave a Gift in your Will
Leave a gift in your will to the Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation today and secure the future of Cholmondeley to care for the next generation of children and families in need in Canterbury.
During Cholmondeley’s nearly 100-year history, one thing has remained constant - it has always responded to the needs of those it supports. It has been a long-term home, a short-term respite centre, or a place of security in times of family turmoil or uncertainty.
The need for children of Canterbury to have a safe space, for whatever the reason, will never change. We can make sure that Cholmondeley will always be there for those children and their families, but we need your support.
With a gift in your will to Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation, you can help us to protect this invaluable resource. From caretaking the land and buildings, to maintaining resources, to extending the Centre’s reach into the community, to nurturing the Centre staff - your gift will support the future focused goals of the Centre.
A history of gifts in wills
Hugh Heber Cholmondeley began a legacy of giving when he left land and funds for a purpose-built home. This legacy has been carried on through generous donations since 1925. Our supporters have since continued to include Cholmondeley in their wills, as seen with the generous legacy gift from Cyril Smith which have been transformational for our community
Thank you for your interest in leaving a gift in your will to Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation. For more information on our Gifts in Wills Programme, contact Kerry Dellaca on foundation@cholmondeley.org.nz for a confidential conversation today.
Our People
The Foundation is managed by a dedicated Board of volunteers.
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Member of the Cholmondeley Board from 2005 to 2020, Kerry is a qualified accountant, a member of the Society of Accountants for Australia and New Zealand, and the Institute of Directors.
A desire to improve the lives of children in crisis, led to his involvement with Cholmondeley. Kerry helped guide the organisation through a very difficult four years after the earthquake, and chaired the committee which raised the funds to rebuild Cholmondeley after the earthquakes, a project which was delivered on time, within budget and debt free, and is the highlight of Kerry's involvement in Cholmondeley.
Kerry considers the "new" Cholmondeley a special place, where he will continue to serve on the Foundation as long as he considers he is adding value.
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Andrew is the New Zealand Business Development Manager for Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific. Prior to joining Amcor, Andrew spent 15 years at Lion working across Lion’s New Zealand and Australia business units in a variety of senior sales and commercial roles.
As a born and bred Cantabrian and a qualified Chartered Accountant, Andrew has been a Trustee of the Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation since 2018. His desire to support Cholmondeley Children’s Centre was sparked by a family member's exceptional fundraising support of the rebuild of the Centre after the Christchurch earthquake.
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David is the Managing Director of Livingstone Realty Ltd, a Life Member of the Real Estate Institute of NZ, former Registered Valuer, and a previous Chairman of the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club. David is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand and a Trustee on the Rotary Club of Cashmere Charitable Trust.
David has been a Foundation Trustee since 2005 because he sees Cholmondeley as a place which provides a positive helping hand, and opportunity for children who need support.
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Mark is a Senior Commercial Manager with Kiwibank, having joined in Oct 2022. Mark’s experience with governance stems from his voluntary role as Chairman of the Christchurch Football Club from 2018-2021. Mark has previously worked with the Child Cancer Foundation in a voluntary capacity, and this experience led him to learn about Cholmondeley; he values the opportunity to again contribute to a wonderful local charity.
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As the Director of Advancement at Christ's College, Claire brings a wealth of expertise and experience, having also run her own marketing consultancy and worked in notable companies including Yellow Pages, Thrifty Car Rental, BOC Gas, and Ansett New Zealand. Claire is also committed to the broader education community as the President of the Rangi Ruru Girls' School PTA since 2020.
By joining the board, Claire aims to leverage her skills and experience to make a positive impact within the Cholmondeley community, further demonstrating her commitment to community engagement and service.
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Janine is one of New Zealand's leading children's television producers. She trained as a producer and director with TVNZ before spending seven years as Executive Producer of TVNZ's Children's Unit. In 1998 Janine and husband, Jason Gunn, formed Christchurch based production company, WhitebaitMedia, which has actively supported Cholmondeley for over a decade.
During the Canterbury earthquakes, she established the charity Adopt a Christchurch Family which raised over $1million for Canterbury families in need. She is also a current Board Member of St Margaret's College. In 2009, Janine was recognised as Entrepreneur of the Year by WIFT (Women in Film and TV) and was a finalist in Next Magazine's 2012 Woman of the Year.
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“Our family is very proud that our father chose to make a significant bequest to Cholmondeley’s building programme to support the wonderful essential services Cholmondeley offers families in crisis.
We greatly appreciated Kerry Dellaca and Shane Murdoch taking time to show us around the new buildings during and after their completion, explain their philosophy and plans, and introduce us to some of the devoted staff, and the services they offer. Seeing firsthand what Cholmondeley means to the children who spend time there was inspiring.
This has stimulated us to establish our giving relationship with Cholmondeley and to take a special interest in its achievements and progress now and into the future.”
— Deborah Cox and Erica de Court. We are forever grateful to Cyril and this incredible gift to Cholmondeley Children’s Foundation.
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John and Jen Taylor are a retired couple from Christchurch. When John was eight, he attended Cholmondeley Children’s Centre.
John keenly sees the stresses that young people face today, and to contribute to enabling those young people to be successful, and to broaden their horizons, John and Jen have remembered the Centre with a generous bequest in their wills.
“There are many reasons why we’ve decided to leave a bequest to Cholmondeley; but in simple terms, we feel our contribution will help provide an opportunity for positive change in the lives of children. Making the decision to give has added significant value to our lives, and we would encourage others to do the same.”
Our Generous Supporters
The Centre is caring for the children of today, whilst the Foundation is caring for the Centre of tomorrow.
In 2013, Cyril Smith left a very generous $3 million bequest to the Foundation. This legacy gift assisted with the rebuild of the Centre in 2015, and as part of the endowment fund, it will continue to support the ongoing work of the Centre for many more years.
