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After 10 years serving on the Community Trust Mid South Canterbury governing board, Alistair Wing of Ashburton has stepped back from the role. He sat down with reporter Dellwyn Moylan to talk about his involvement.
Alistair Wing’s retirement from the Community Trust of Mid & South Canterbury has been sealed with a gift making a big impact on Cardiac Kids Club Mid and South Canterbury.
He nominated them for a grant.
Traditionally, trustees remove themselves from funding decisions about groups they are close to as a way to manage conflicts of interest, but that changes on their retirement.
Trustees are invited to nominate a group in acknowledgement for their work on the trust as they leave.
Alistair chose cardiac kids because it’s close to his heart; he had a grandson who benefited from their services.
It had been a welcomed acknowledgement for The Cardiac Club who said, in a letter to the family, that “it is incredibly moving to know that the support we provided ... during the open-heart surgery all those years ago left such a lasting impression.”
Alistair’s involvement with the trust started about 10 years ago, when then-chair Peter O’Leary tapped him on the shoulder to join.
"It’s a government appointment where you do a four year term and can do a second term,” Alistair said.
"I did little longer to see some things through.”
Making a difference in the Mid and South Canterbury areas has been a big motivator for him to remain involved.
During his time, $18 million has been granted to groups in Ashburton, Timaru, McKenzie and Waimate.
There were some big projects he recalled, such as C Play in Timaru, Staveley Ice Skating Rink and the Ashburton Aviation Museum.
"We weren’t the main funders on these but our grants helped them get over the line,” he said.
Projects that often meant the most were the small ones, like the Temuka Patchwork Group or an embroidery group.
“We weren't granting them great amounts but the amounts meant a lot to the members,” he said.
"The grant could have been for power to keep the lights on or to pay for hall rental enabling the groups to meet and provide socialisation for the members.”
A project especially rewarding for Alistair, was to the Salvation Army food bank and its move to a more supermarket-type service.
"Their model of operating was about helping people to help themselves. It wasn’t a hand-out but a hand-up,” he said.
Although Alistair is no longer a trustee, he is still the trust representative on the Geraldine Health Hub, a modern building offering health services to residents in Geraldine.
"The trust investment in the hub was a major investment. It enabled the hub to be up operating within 18 months. Without our funding it could have been five years before this important facility for the community was operational,” he said.
Alistair said during his time on the trust, he stayed impartial but “never forgot his grassroots”. Prior to his trust work, he had spent many happy years involved with Jaycee’s and 24 years on the Tinwald Reserve Board.
He was also made an Justice of the Peace in 2011.
When Alistair started with the trust there were about eight applications per grant round, but today that number has grown to 40 to 50.
"There are many wonderful volunteers in the district doing a tremendous job. But I have noticed there are less people doing more of the work,” Alistair said.
He has also seen, with a growing number of compliance regulations, fewer people putting their hands up to take on some roles, especially treasurer.
Alistair was involved with the trust’s rebranding to Ahu Community Trust and its strengthening of the strategic direction launched last week.
"I think the new strategic direction is a good one,” he said.