Brent Eastwood sport thought: Endowment fund making a real difference

Seeing children involved in sport and active recreation is a real benefit of the Northland Sports Endowment Fund, writes Sport Northland chief executive Brent Eastwood. Photo / File

A number of years ago, Sport Northland partnered up with the Northland Community Foundation to establish a Northland Sports Endowment Fund, with the aim of creating a lasting legacy for sport across the region.

The Northland Community Foundation is one of 14 community foundations throughout NZ and has an aim of providing a simple, effective, long-lasting way for individuals, families and organisations to leave legacies or create funds to support local causes, and to ensure these gifts will achieve maximum and enduring benefits for our community.

The Northland Community Foundation is unique in that it is the only organisation that seeks legacies and gifts from throughout the Northland region, invests those gifts and then distributes them back into our community.

In effect, the Foundation is in operation to "forge brighter futures through giving".

Sport Northland believes that involvement in active recreation and sport leads to a better life – whether that is through participating, officiating, coaching, instructing, administrating or other volunteering. Active recreation and sport offers so much and has a unique capacity to bring people from all walks of life together.

Maybe you have gained benefits from active recreation and sport during your life, or maybe you are seeing those benefits for your children or grandchildren. Either way you have a unique opportunity to support active recreation and sport in Northland now and in the future.

You could make a huge difference to your preferred sports code, or to active recreation and sport in general, by setting up your own endowment fund through our living giving or bequest options. Or you could join together with friends or family to create a legacy for sport.

You can support young, talented sports people, a sports code of your choice or even different activities you might be interested in – it's absolutely your choice.

Working with the Northland Community Foundation, Sport Northland will ensure that gifts given to the Sports Endowment Fund will go exactly where you want them. Your gift will keep on giving because the capital remains intact, is invested, and the income from the investment is distributed annually to the beneficiaries of your choice.

Sport Northland already has nearly $250,000 of investment funding in place in the Sports Endowment Fund – this includes funding from the late Garry Frew's estate (Garry was Advocate sports editor and himself a Northland Legend of Sport), with a specific purpose that this help support talented young Northland sports people reach their sporting goals through monetary grants and support services from the Northland Sports Talent Hub.

We would love to see Northlanders with a passion for active recreation and sport who are wanting to see our youngsters achieve giving to this most worthy cause.

To find out more about contributing to the Sport Endowment Fund, you can contact Greta Buchanan, Manager of the Northland Community Foundation on 021 558 224 or visit their website www.northlandcommunityfoundation.org.nz for more information.