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Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

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This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

SUTHERLAND, Benjamin

Contents


Sutherland Self Help Trust

In July 1941 the Sutherland Self Help Trust was founded by Arthur Sutherland on behalf of members of the Sutherland family. The trust's assets derive from £5,000 given by A. F. Sutherland, together with 22 properties donated, on 27 July 1942, by the Self Help Cooperative Ltd. The trustees have leased these properties, which comprise 58 shops and eight residences, to the Self Help Cooperative at rentals based on the shop sales. The annual income from these was allowed to accumulate until the trust's capital reached £500,000.

The trust is administered by a board comprising A. F. Sutherland (died 1942), John Sutherland (during his lifetime); one member nominated by each of the New Zealand Law Society, the British Medical Association (New Zealand Branch), and the New Zealand Society of Accountants; and two members nominated by the directors of the Self Help Cooperative Ltd.

The deed setting up the trust specifies that the annual income is to be used to aid (a) the rehabilitation of disabled servicemen and women; (b) in providing medical, surgical, or other curative treatment for handicapped children, for child-welfare purposes, and for vocational or special educational training for children; (c) to aid the Plunket Society; and (d) for “any educational, religious or other charitable purpose … selected by the Trustees”. The trustees are empowered to devote the whole of the annual income to some particularly deserving cause to the exclusion of the others mentioned above. They may also make grants towards the establishment, upkeep, or maintenance of hospitals, schools, camps, and similar institutions.

The first distribution from the Sutherland Self Help Trust was made on 20 September 1963, when £21,470 was granted to various purposes.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

  • The Sutherland Self Help Trust, 1941
  • Self Help Silver Jubilee, 1922–47, Sutherland, B. (1947)
  • Evening Post, 3 Jan 1949 (Obit)
  • Dominion, 3 Jan 1949 (Obit).