Donation to Assistance Dogs New Zealand Trust

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Charity stories

The Gift Trust, through the generosity of a donor, have supported Assistance Dogs New Zealand for three years. Over this time, The Gift Trust have made made donations totalling $60,000 to support families in need of an assistance dog.

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The Gift Trust, through the generosity of a donor, have supported Assistance Dogs New Zealand for three years. Over this time, The Gift Trust have made made donations totalling $60,000 to support families in need of an assistance dog.


Julie Hancox - Assistance Dogs NZ Trust Founder

Assistance Dogs was founded in 2008 by Julie and Rick Hancox after Julie saw the need for assistance dogs for people with various disabilities that could not currently receive access to service dogs. There was nowhere for people with disabilities such as Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Diabetes to go to obtain a dog to assist with their disability.

After being introduced to families bringing in dogs from the US to assist their children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Julie took on the challenge of creating an organisation in New Zealand to cater for this gap of service in our community.

Julie formulated her own dog training programme and Assistance Dogs now services 37 clients across NZ with a waiting list that is continuously growing beyond the capabilities of this unique and successful charitable organisation.

The Assistance Dogs team continue to offer professional training and dog assessment programs and a consistently high placement success rate. 

How an assistance dog can make a positive difference to a family – Meet Cheyenne and King

Story below taken from Assistance Dogs NZ Trust website, submitted by Lisa Bailey.


chey and king

 

“King has changed our lives and we are much richer for having him help us as a family and take wonderful care of Cheyenne when we are out in public.”

Lisa Bailey, Cheyennes mum.

 

“Cheyenne my son has Autism and is 11 years old. He was an absconder and a runner. He went 5km away from home and it was the most trying time of our lives.

We are truly blessed to have an assistance dog, King, to help Cheyenne firstly to be an anchor when tethered together so Cheyenne cannot run away. Cheyenne has come so far now that he can independently walk King in the supermarkets and out on the streets with my guidance.

King has brought so much calmness, love and happiness to our home.

Assistance Dogs do such an amazing job with training these wonderful dogs to help make our lives easier as its such a challenge on a day to day basis”.

 

To read more from families and how an assistance dog has supported them, click here to read more. 

A note of gratitude to The Gift Trust for always taking the time to learn the cultural nuances around doing this kind of work in so many countries. I am always so impressed with your due diligence process and openness to understanding why things are the way they are. Thank you!

Geneva Loftus Executive Director, Move92

We set out to build a new pooled fund as a way to give passionate people an avenue to contribute to climate action. The Gift Trust provided expert guidance, professional operational infrastructure, and generous connections. What’s resulted is a boost of much needed funding going to incredible climate charities doing the mahi here in Aotearoa.

The Climatics Gift Trust client

Aroha mai, aroha atu – is an expression of interconnectedness, reciprocity and balance, advocating for a world where kindness, empathy, and love are shared freely and returned, fostering stronger communities and personal well-being. This whakataukī embodies the spirit of the Matariki Koha Fund, our connection with Te Āti Awa iwi and the tautoko The Gift Trust provides us all. Kia ora!

Wellington Community Fund

The Gift Trust is hands down the best thing we’ve done to help us with our giving journey. They make it easy, fun, and put us in touch with charities we would never know about otherwise. We can’t recommend them highly enough!

Holmes Charitable Fund Gift Account holder

We are hugely grateful to The Gift Trust for undertaking research into the disability sector and for identifying and then introducing us to an organisation which was willing to take on an additional project to fill a gap that we had identified in the disability support network. Yvonne and Cheryl at The Gift Trust continue to provide the link in our relationship with the organisation and to oversee the provision of meaningful and regular reports on impact.

Columba Fund Gift Account holder

Finding charities that fit well within a trust's giving brief can be difficult and time-consuming. When we needed charity research done for one of our trusts under management we contracted The Gift Trust to do it for us. They had a wealth of knowledge and connections that provided us with a concise and clear report, giving us the information we needed to decide where funds should be allocated.

Dentons New Zealand

An area of importance to our clients is charitable giving. The Gift Trust offers an opportunity to streamline the gifting process, while adding increased confidence and transparency. It also provides robust due diligence of eligible charities and access to additional support services for clients with complex needs.

Philip Stevenson CEFEX Certified Investment Adviser, Bloomsbury Associates

The Gift Trust provides a flexible and robust structure, to support donors' charitable giving intentions, while still enabling them to have a say in the investment of donated funds.

David Ireland Partner, Dentons New Zealand

A Gift Account with The Gift Trust is a great option as an alternative to setting up a charity or private foundation while still preserving clients' control over their giving.

Steven Moe Partner, Parry Field Lawyers

The administration and ongoing compliance requirements involved in setting up a private charity can be onerous, and even risky. Setting up a Gift Account allows The Gift Trust to look after those requirements, and provide support that allows the donor to focus on what they really want to do with their gifts.

Sue Barker Specialist charities lawyer

The Gift Trust takes the guesswork out of giving. Having support with research and due diligence on donations ensures that funds are truly making the desired impact. It has been a real pleasure to work with The Gift Trust.

Ben Gift Account holder

Get in touch

    PO Box 19120, Marion Square
    Wellington, New Zealand

    04 391 4438