ABOUT US
Our vision is “Embracing, Equipping and empowering our Community.”
We are a charitable trust run by people with a passion to serve families and individuals living in the Eastern Christchurch suburbs who are experiencing financial difficulty. We do this through a financial plan of action, educational money management courses, minor house/electrical assessments and repairs, also community outreach gatherings.
Compassion Trust is run by a small team supported by a number of sponsors and volunteers. We are based in New Brighton Christchurch with offices based at the Grace Vineyard Church. All our services are offered free of charge.
OUR STORY – so far…
Established in 2003, Initially founders Mike and Chris Thomas hosted community meals at the Grace Vineyard Church building in Ferry Road, with 33 people attending the first meal. Over time, the popularity of these events grew as the community came to appreciate the love, encouragement and support that volunteers from Grace Vineyard provided. By 2007, around 200 guests attended seven events held annually, culminating with a Christmas meal attended by 450 people. In 2006, Compassion Trust began to personally deliver school lunches to low income families. By 2009, school lunches (with home-baked cookies supplied by Grace Volunteers) were being delivered to 47 families each week, feeding 150 kids.
A key role of the Trust is matching up the needs of the community with willing volunteers from within Grace Vineyard Church who love serving in practical ways. Following the February 2011 earthquake, the Trust undertook a community need assessment project to fully understand the needs of the eastern suburb. It became clear that high demand existed for a community based free budget advice service. After much planning, recruiting, training and networking and building relationships with local support organizations, Compassion Trust Budget Advice Service was established on the 7th October 2012.
As a budget service we became affiliated with The New Zealand Federation of Family Budgeting Service (Now National Building Financial Capability Charitable Trust) in August 2013. All of our financial mentors go through a period of training and supervision and are required to do ongoing training each year.
OUR MAIN SUPPORTERS
FURTHER SUPPORTERS
Youth Alive Trust
Poto Williams Labour Electoral Office
St Vincent de Paul
Community Law
St Faith’s Anglican Church
Union Street Medical Centre
Renew New Brighton
Mayors Welfare
Christian Budgeting New Zealand
New Brighton Project
Mené Solutions Ltd
Thank You Charitable Trust
THE TEAM
We have a committed team of 32 volunteers across all our services.
Manager – Anne Addei
Financial Mentors – Anne Addei, Maria Penny, Shirley Rooney, Leanne Carter, David Jones, Gill Newman, Ruth Russell and Alison Clarkson
Practical Guy – John Penny (Minor electrical repairs and energy use assessment)
CAP Money Coaches – Anne Addei, Nigel Burson, Maria Penny, Shirley Rooney, David Jones
MoneyMates Coaches – Anne Addei and Leanne Carter
+ A committed group of volunteers who assist with the beach Community Care Programmes held at Grace Vineyard Beach Campus111 Seaview Rd, New Brighton during the week.
+ A committed group of volunteers who assist with Street Light Ministry held at Latimer Square gathering in the City at Latimer Square every Friday night from 6 pm
Anne
Manager and Financial Mentor (Affiliate NBFCCT Inc)
MoneyMates Coach
I am passionate about working and supporting people on the eastern side of Christchurch. I live here myself and deal with the day to day frustration that we face. I have two teenage boys who keep me busy with all their sports and school activities. In summer we love to hang out at New Brighton beach with our friends and have fun and food together.
Maria
Financial Mentor (Affiliate NBFCCT Inc)
I have lived in North New Brighton since moving to Christchurch over 30 years ago. My husband and I have brought up three children over this time who are all adults, now living independent lives. We have two grandsons and another grandchild due in November. I love getting out in the sunshine especially if it’s to do gardening. I also love to read and enjoy cooking fruit and vegetables grown in the garden.
Leanne
Financial Mentor (Affiliate NBFCCT Inc)
MoneyMates Coach
I have been with Compassion Trust since the beginning of 2015 and enjoy being part of the team and feel honoured working alongside people in our community. I have lived in Christchurch all my life, and I have been married to my husband for 25 years and we have two adult boys.
Ruth
Financial Mentor (Affiliate NBFCCT Inc.)
I am passionate about helping people in our city become financially capable.
I am married with 3 children and grandchildren. My husband and I run a few businesses and enjoy spending time with family and friends in our leisure time.
David
Financial Mentor (Affiliate NBFCCT Inc.)
I am semi-retired, having arrived in New Zealand in 2006 from South Africa, where I was the manager of the Accounting Services department for Shell Southern Africa. I have four beautiful adult daughters living in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Wellington and one at home with my wife and I.
My desire is to share the benefit of my extensive background knowledge and experience by giving back to the community.
Gill
Financial Mentor (Affiliate NBFCCT Inc.)
I enjoy empowering people to take control of their finances and to begin working towards their goals.
I have a background in teaching and business and I value the opportunity to share my knowledge to help others.
I am married to Bruce and we have 3 adult children each and we share 6 grandchildren. We recently moved back to Christchurch after 5 years in Dunedin, so we are closer to our family.
Alison
Financial Mentor
I have volunteered to do financial mentoring with compassion trust because I am a Christian. I love to help people in the community who are struggling with life and living.
I want to take this opportunity to share Gods love with them by sitting down with them as individuals listening to their story and assisting them to make a positive way forward in their circumstances.
Chris
Financial Mentor
My wife and I moved to New Zealand years ago and are part of Grace Vineyard. I’ve worked as a financial adviser for 25 years (in the UK) and feel that I will be able to use this experience to help my local community.
I enjoy helping clients get the best deal and to help them build a realistic and sustainable financial plan. Outside work I enjoy most sports particularly football (with the round ball) although I’m starting to get into the oval ball version too!
Susan
Financial Mentor
I love being part of the Compassion Trust team. Finances can be stressful so I enjoy supporting people as they work toward managing their money well to fit their lifestyle and goals.
I am married to Joseph and we have two primary school aged girls. As a family we enjoy getting outdoors together and exploring our beautiful country.
OUR CORE VALUES
Relationship
We recognise that the best long term outcomes happen in the context of relationship. Through relationship we build trust and empower people to make positive life changes.
Kindness/Mercy
We know that showing mercy and kindness opens the door to building trust and understanding with people in our community. Displaying kindness and mercy breaks down barriers and increases engagement.
Empathy
We recognise the value of empathy in the way we communicate with people in the community. In a non-judgemental way we aim to fully understand each person’s unique situation.
Hope
We believe that people can change for the better and we have an important part to play in that change process as we support our clients.
Compassion
We recognise that it is compassion that motivates us to take action where we see the need for help and support.
LIKE TO HELP?
A community organization like ours needs good infrastructure, resources and staff to be effective and that comes at a cost. Would you like to consider becoming “A Friend of Compassion Trust” and partner with us? We welcome all financial donations whether it is weekly, fortnightly or monthly. You may wish to support the ministry by choosing a specific food item to add to our food parcels.