ASB Community Trust becomes Foundation North

ASB Community Trust, which provides grants to not-for-profit organisations across Auckland and Northland, has been renamed Foundation North.

“When the decision was made to sell the Auckland Savings Bank (ASB) in 1988, the Trust was set up to hold the assets ‘in trust’ for the communities of Auckland and Northland,” Trust Chief Executive Jennifer Gill says. “As ASB was progressively sold to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia the proceeds were returned to the Trust.

“The Trust’s endowment now stands at over a billion dollars.  In the 2014 year, this generated an income of $81.6 million. Of this, $34.9 million in grants were made to support a whole range of great things happening across the Auckland and Northland regions, and the rest was reinvested to maintain the value of the endowment for future generations.”

The Trust’s grants  support participation in sports, environmental, cultural, and arts activities; help conserve, preserve and develop the regions’ natural and physical environment, and cultural heritage; and fund education and youth programmes to get positive outcomes for children, young people and their families, and high need communities.

“If there is something exciting, worthwhile, or innovative happening in our Auckland and Northland communities, there is a good chance we have supported this with a grant.”

Ms Gill said apart from the name change, it was business as usual.

“Foundation North will continue to operate just as the ASB Community Trust has operated.  We’re here to support our communities as we always have – and will for generations to come.”