Friends Of Cawthron Officially Recognised

December 15, 2009

News Release

For Immediate Release

Friends Of Cawthron Officially Recognised

The Thomas Cawthron Charitable Trust is pleased to announce the formation of the Friends of Cawthron.

Friends of Cawthron was officially launched at the annual Cawthron Lecture held in November.

The aim of the programme is to ensure anyone who donates money through bequests, sponsorship or grants is acknowledged and kept in touch with Cawthron Institute news, through a newsletter, lectures and invitations to events.

Secretary of the Thomas Cawthron Charitable Trust, Judene Edgar says it’s the first time Cawthron has had a formal Friends programme.

“Historically we’ve been generously supported by people and trusts giving us grants and some bequests since Cawthron began. The goal of having a formal Friends programme is to not only to formalize the process of people making bequests, grants, donations or sponsorship but also to ensure there is a formal system of acknowledgement and follow up in place for the donor,” she says.

The Thomas Cawthron Charitable Trust is a not-for-profit organization registered with the Charities Commission.

Philanthropy has always been a mainstay of the Institute, especially as it was born directly from the wishes and funding of Nelson businessman Thomas Cawthron over 90 years ago.

While Cawthron operates in a commercial environment, working for clients or receiving government funding – donated funding can help fund research that is in the interests of New Zealand but for which there is no other funding source.

“The money we get from Friends of Cawthron is vital to ensure we can continue research for areas that are important for our nation, but which don’t necessarily have an immediate commercial imperative,“ says Judene Edgar.

One of Cawthron’s long-term supporters has been the McKee Trust.

Spokesperson Fred McKee says The McKee Trust has a long and fruitful association with Cawthron Institute.

“The earliest link with Cawthron was when the McKee family was involved in the Tasman apple industry in 1920. Among the significant pests invading apple orchards in the early years was the Woolly Aphid. After much research, Cawthron Institute introduced a very effective parasite - Aphelinus Mali which effectively eliminated Woolly Aphis. All growers benefited from this important breakthrough at that time.

“A second key link was when the McKee Trust was formed in 1968. One of our first trustees was Dr Cuthbert Richard Barnicoat who retired in 1969 as Director of Cawthron. More recently the McKee Trust granted money over three years to Cawthron Institute for the research and preservation of the rare Kakapo.

“We believe that Cawthron will continue to play an important role not only in local horticultural & aquaculture industries but in vital research across many industries,” says Fred McKee.

Judene Edgar says if Cawthron doesn’t receive government or commercial funding for an area of research, then they can’t proceed.

“The Friends of Cawthron are really vital for public research and we are proud to be able to honour them and encourage more people to consider giving a donation or perhaps sponsor a particular project to support and further Cawthron’s respected science.”

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