2019 Scholarship Update Announcement

Tēnā koutou katoa,

Ngā mihi kau atu ana i roto i ngā tini āhuatanga o te wā i runga anō hoki i ngā moemoeā o rātou mā.

The Ōtaki & Porirua Trusts Board advises it is unfortunately unable to provide scholarships for the 2019 year.

This is a particularly difficult decision as a primary role of the board is to provide education scholarships. The board has faced two difficult years since the 2017 scholarship round where it disbursed $250,000 for payment for the 2018 school year.

In 2017 OPTB purchased Tikorangi Farm in Manakau/Ōhau and faced extreme climatic conditions for the 2017/2018 season. Both of these factors have affected our financial situation and short term profitability.

We have continued to discuss our responsibilities and looked at various options to fund scholarship payments in 2019. The Otaki & Porirua Trust Board Act requires allocating two-thirds of its net income for each financial year to the Scholarship Fund, which fund shall be available only for scholarships. For the 2018 financial year the board operated at a loss resulting in no funds available for scholarships in 2019.

The decision to buy the farm and the re-structure of the OPTB are medium to long-term decisions which will enable us to further expand and grow the trust. We are in a good position to advance our strategic goals. It is the intention of the board to review this decision within the financial year commencing 1 June 2019. At this time we are expecting an improvement in our financial situation.

Nāku iti nei,

Nā Whare Akuhata

Board Chairperson

Ōtaki and Porirua Trusts Board