Stability and support for children's charity: 137,000 reasons to celebrate

When Cholmondeley children’s charity received a call from a local accountant offering his help in the days following the big quake, they never expected his firm would be handing over a $137,000 donation just a few months later.

Yet, Cholmondeley’s general manager Shane Murdoch acknowledges he should have realised bean counters mean business.

“People like PwC South Island Partner Maurice Noone and PwC Christchurch Partner Malcolm Hudson have been sausage sizzling, advocating with clients and appealing to their global partner firms for more than 20 years on our behalf. We needed support from our community and PwC voluntarily stepped up and rallied for our children,” adds Mr Murdoch.

With care staff, teachers, and social workers to pay for, along with providing food, water and beds for children needing short-term care, running Cholmondeley is a $1.5 million-a-year job.

“On top of our usual costs, we’ve had to fund the move to a temporary residential facility, along with meeting the extra demands the stresses of the quakes are placing on vulnerable children and families,” says Mr Murdoch.

Mr Noone says “It was heartening to see the way our people and offices kicked into fundraising mode and responded to our local call to action. We even received substantial donations from our partner firms in Australia and Japan, which is remarkable considering they’re still recovering from their own crises,”

Cholmondeley will mark PwC’s donation with a special morning tea on Thursday 7 July at its temporary home at Living Springs in Governors Bay. Cholmondeley’s children will also gift a specially commissioned piece of artwork to thank PwC and its people for their support.

“It might just be the most expensive picture we’ve ever bought,” says Mr Noone. “Yet, even accountants know running a sustainable business is down to much more than profit and loss.”