Guardian Trust Administers $190,000 In Scholarships

A trust founded by a Waikato farmer is demonstrating how important quality wealth management is to sustainable philanthropic giving. For the second time in two years, the David Johnstone Charitable Trust, managed by Guardian Trust, is making a six-figure donation in the form of scholarships for new students at Waikato tertiary institutions.

Thirty-eight Waikato tertiary students are set to benefit from scholarships of $5,000 each. This year’s trust distribution totals $190,000; last year, 37 Waikato students received $185,000 between them. The trust is now worth more than $6 million, and has distributed more than $1 million since 1995.

Guardian Trust is carrying out Mr Johnstone’s wishes in bestowing the scholarships to new secondary-school graduates embarking on qualifications at either Waikato University (for those pursuing a science or teaching degree) or Waikato Institute of Technology (any field of study), the two major tertiary institutions in the region.

Guardian Trust Hamilton Branch Manager Shane Pearce said the distribution highlighted how enduring giving is possible when facilitated by a charitable trust.

“The objective of managing the trust is to grow the funds year-on-year to permit regular distributions in support of the chosen causes. Mr Johnstone’s intention was that his trust would not only assist the students it directly funded, but in the long term boost New Zealand agriculture and the whole economy, and this case demonstrates what a well-managed trust can achieve over many years.”

Mr Johnstone was a well-known farming identity in the Waikato. He was born in 1910 into one of the area’s strongest and oldest pioneering and farming families. One of seven children, he left school at an early age to run the family farm after his father drowned while crossing the flooded Waipa River. Many years of hard work – and trial and error – made him a success in his field, but he harboured a lifelong wish to have had a better education.

His answer was to form the David Johnstone Charitable Trust and make one of its principal objectives to help young people expand their knowledge in the agricultural fields.

Mr Johnstone was ‘man-powered’ out of the Army in 1940, in a practice whereby the most able men – those considered to be of a calibre that the community could not do without – were held back from service in World War II.

At the age of 62 he sold his immediate family’s farm in Whatawhata to his nephews and took on Orini Downs, a 1,000-hectare farm at Orini. He also developed a hotel on Norfolk Island, and was a founding member and benefactor to the National Fieldays.

A scholarship presentation to all 38 students was held on 5 November at the Waikato Stadium.

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