ANNUAL REPORT 2016
Mission To create high quality environments where people have experiences that enrich them as human beings, enable them to grow stronger together and inspire them to live life to the full.
CONTENTS Directors Report
Page 3
Financial Reports
Page 12
Our People
Page 5
Grants and Funding
Page 22
Our Place
Page 7
Vision To become a leader in the camp, conference and leisure industry and to play a vital role in the restoration of the city of Christchurch.
Trustees: David Down, Eddie Down, John Down, Jo Down, Ken Lord, Anne Morrow, Paul Morrow, Roger Roxburgh, Val Roxburgh
Board Members: John Down (Chair), Tessa Dodge, John Smart
Management: Denis Aldridge - CEO
Solicitors: Parry Field & Co.
Auditors: Nexia New Zealand
Bankers: B.N.Z.
Accountants: Astute Mode
Directors Report In Verdi’s opera Nabucco we find the much-loved ‘Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves’ -Va Pensiero -where the exiles in captivity voice their longing for their sacred place and the nurture and wholeness and freedom it represents.
The establishment of the Aorangi Foundation this year to fund the children of disadvantaged communities into this restorative place is a signal of strong intent that none should be closed out or left behind.
The Founders Field development of 2015/16 which “Go thoughts on golden wings, Go settle upon the when complete will host festivals and concerts, sporting slopes and hills, Where warm and soft and fragrant are, events and celebrations of life as well as the continued development of the biodiversity sanctuary are major steps The breezes of our sweet native land” forward in our mission of As we reflect on another “creating environments year and the vast number where people have of people who have been Go thoughts on golden wings experiences that enrich drawn to these slopes them as human beings, and hills and have found Go settle upon the slopes and hills enabling them to grow here a place of nurture stronger together and and of wholeness, of Where warm and soft and fragrant are inspiring them to live life restoration and wellto the full.” being it becomes more
The breezes of our sweet native land.
and more evident that there is a warm and soft and fragrant breeze blowing in this place. The travellers this year have included thousands of school children, numerous choirs, music groups, sports teams and health related retreats to name but a few. To look from the port town of Lyttelton after dark is to look towards a light on the hill, a beacon in the harbour at the head of the bay which flashes welcome to all including our foreign volunteers and our ethnic communities.
The heartbeat of this place is resident in an amazing and dedicated community of people who this year hosted 11,700 guests, served with love 70,000 meals and ran hundreds of outdoor and adventure based learning programs. These are the people who made the beds and mowed the lawns and who carry with joy the vision for today of a sacred restorative space. These are the people who daily rise and send thoughts of love on golden wings.
Denis Aldridge
Director
Page 3 - Directors Report
Our Values
RESPECT COMMITMENT COMPASSIONATE FAITH
HUMOUR INTEGRITY
PASSION INSPIRED COMMUNICATION
INNOVATION RESULTS ORIENTATED
Our People As well as being a restorative place we have a dream of ‘creating one of the greatest learning environments in New Zealand’. This year saw over 4000 primary school children and 1007 secondary school children take up residence in camp for 2-3 days at a time and extending their frontiers through a wide range of programmes, activities and communal experiences. The OnTrack camps for students studying for NCEA exams continue to grow under Wendy Duggan’s leadership and we acknowledge the generous contribution of the Dublin Street Trust in sponsoring several students from decile one and two schools into these camps. Establishing the Aorangi Foundation (piercing the cloud) has also been a long held dream and is now taking shape with the establishment of the Aorangi Foundation Trust. This year the foundation has committed to fully funding to camp approximately 90 children respectively from each of the four decile one schools in Christchurch. As well the foundation has provided a vehicle of cross pollination with the children in some of the more affluent
areas fundraising to assist children from disadvantaged areas to get to camp. We once again acknowledge the Dublin Street Trust for their generous contribution in seed funding this Foundation. In recent years we have noticed a growth in health related community’s taking up residence at Living Springs with twenty six such groups staying here in the 2015/16 year. These included the national Chrons and Colitis camp, Foundation for the Blind, Parents of Deaf children, Canteen, Camp Quality, Diabetes Youth, Red Cross, Canterbury Upp club, Child Cancer Foundation, Stand Children’s Services, Parafed Canterbury and others. As well our four and a half year residential relationship with Cholmondeley Children’s Centre continued until July 2015 when they moved back into their newly completed home in Governors Bay – this special relationship continues. The school holiday camps for 8-12 year olds continues to be as lively and energetic as ever and this year provided a respite for both children and parents alike with more than 1800 child accommodation nights accounted for.
We have continued to take a strong position in promoting health and safety and in September 2015 were once again Outdoors Mark certified for safety in the outdoors. We have continued to see significant expansion in volunteerism and important partnerships taking root as the organisation continues to expand its understanding of the communities we serve. The foreign volunteers on the ACVE programme have now become an integral part of our community on the hill with an average of six young people here at a time sometimes staying for up to a year. As well as the valuable work they do on site their youth, vitality and cultural diversity brings a richness to every aspect of our organisation. This year the Single Track Mountain Bike club celebrated ten years of track construction and maintenance and through their tireless efforts many hundreds of people each year are able to get out and about on the hills of Living Springs.
Others have come as leaders and tutors for school holiday camps and On Track camps and brought the best of their talents, energy, creativity and knowledge on a voluntary basis often giving up there holidays to be here. As a Charitable Trust, it is often a challenge to expand both the level and scope of services offered whilst remaining financially accessible to the young and marginalised sectors of our community. Without this major volunteer input we would struggle to achieve at the level we are. Once again we are greatly indebted to our Trustees and Founders for their vision and courage at the outset in setting us on this journey and our Board for continually giving of their time, expertise and insight in a voluntary capacity. As always our staff and volunteers are the heart and soul of making Living Springs the place it is today and whilst they face many challenges the passion and sense of purpose they bring to their diverse roles is a major contributor to our success.
Our Place Founders Field
The construction of the Founders Field has been the signature project of 2015/16 and its completion will see the culmination of a thirty three year dream. It is set in a stunning environment and when complete will open the way for a wide range of community activities including sporting events, festivals, outdoor concerts, jamborees, and large scale youth gatherings and it will dramatically change forever what is possible at Living Springs.
has the capacity to become a platform for greatness and to lift the spirits of all who come here. We are indebted to Fulton Hogan have made a major contribution to this project, we couldn’t have done it without them and they have been a pleasure to work with. Construction has taken place during our busiest time of year yet with planning, cooperation and goodwill on all sides we have managed to function around the disruption.
The project has involved extensive earthworks, crib walling, timber retaining, paving, drainage, roadworks, curbing, landscape and lighting. It has required the expertise and involvement of a wide range of consultants, planners, contractors and trades people. However investment in this project is more than an investment in turf, timber and tarmac rather it is a significant contribution towards the young people of the region. Assisting people to keep their spirits free amidst the challenges of life is at the heart of what Living Springs exits for, and this field
This has been a $2m project and we are indebted to the team at Barrer and Co who have guided us in the capital fundraising campaign. The award won at the Fundraising Institute of NZ conference for excellence in strategic grants was testament to the work of Sarah Barrer and her team as well as reflecting the way major funders view the impact Living Springs is having in the wider community. We are indebted to all who have supported this project both financially and in a multitude of other ways.
Denis Aldridge, CEO, Anne Morrow, Founding Family member and William LeHeux, Fulton Hogan, proudly showing the Excellence in Strategic Grants award won at the Fundraising Institute of NZ conference recently. Page 7 - Our Place
The award won at the Fundraising Institute of NZ conference for excellence in strategic grants was testament to the work of Sarah Barrer and her team as well as reflecting the way major funders view the impact Living Springs is having in the wider community. We are indebted to all who have supported this project both financially and in a multitude of other ways.
MAJOR FUNDERS
Davin Trust
Lion Foundation
Pub Charity
Southern Trust
NZ Community Trust
COMMUNITY FUNDING
Fulton Hogan
Doug and Vikki Pflaum
Peter & Mary Mills
Fahey Fence Hire
Graham McVicar
Phyllis Common
Alasdair Cassels
Laurence & Georgina Ennor
G & J Manson
Kathriene and Geoff White - Evergreen Landscapes Keith Smith – AlphaOne Online Building Consent Process Paul Armour David Hepburn Donna Kirkby
Lions Amberly
JR Fountain
Lions Ferrymead
Pioneer Motorbiking Club
Krissy Christensen
Alan Honeybone
Christchurch North Rotary
Drummond Inheritance
Redcliffs School Stephen Hembrow
Lorna Revis Val and Roger Roxburgh
Eco Sanctuary
The move towards an eco-sanctuary on this unique setting at the head of the harbour continues. This is a large scale project involving in the first instance the protection of the waterways of the Allandale catchment from the Crater to the Sea (Ki Uta Ki Tai). It has required with the assistance of Environment Canterbury and others the installation of over four and a half kilometres of livestock fencing in the last five years and extensive riparian planting to enhance water quality and to encourage the development of aquatic stream life. This year’s planting programme involved approximately 5000 trees, shrubs and native grasses including 300 Totaras. Once again the volunteer input into planting was extensive and included input from the Friends of Friends Muslim community, Meridian Energy, Carmillias Climbing,
Page 9 - Our Guests
Fendalton Primary school and the ANZ Bank. Anna Colombus continues to operate in a park ranger type role overseeing planting, tree maintenance and managing the predator control programme. Bird life appears to be on the increase and this last autumn we have been treated on a number of occasions to the sight of 25 -30 Kereru at a time feeding in and around the camp. Craig Turners legacy at Living Springs will be in the Bush Ecology and Animal Ecosystems learning modules he developed in his time here. These modules have been designed with different learning styles in mind and aim to deliver informative environmental lessons in a fun and engaging manner.
Facility Upkeep
Our Commitment towards building and facility upkeep continues in the midst of an expansive capital development programme and this year represented 8% of income at $136k. Major painting and refurbishment projects were carried out on Harbour View, Bellbird Heights and Bunk House three and in April 16 the roof of the main camp facility was repainted. We appreciate again
the relationship we have with Shane Edwards of Edwards Property Services in this regard For much of the last year Joseph Aldridge has been working with Canterbury District Health in the development of a new Drinking Water Supply Plan for Living Springs. The plan was approved on 7th June 2016 and implementation will begin in the current year.
Financial Reports The 2015/16 Annual Report will be the first under the New Reporting Standards for Charitable Organisations. As such it will contain a Statement of Service Performance as well as a Statement of Financial Performance. As a charitable organisation there is for Living Springs a constant tension that needs to be managed which involves the need for ongoing operational improvement balanced by the ability of schools and community groups to pay for them. As well we intentionally endeavour to maintain accessibility to those most in need and sometimes this is a fine balancing act as is shown in this years accounts.
Summary of audited financial performance shows a total surplus for the year for Living Springs of Once the capital fundraising for the Founders Field is removed And insurance for EQ damaged buildings is removed The Operational Surplus/Deficit for Living Springs was
Highlights of the Annual report for the year ended 31st March 2016 Contributing factors to 2016 financial deficit included: •
$29k reduction in revenue from providing goods and services
•
$55k increase in wages
•
$55k increase in maintenance
•
$99k cost of capital fundraising
Steps are being taken to address these matters including a renewed effort in marketing the services Living Springs offers and the appointment of a marketing professional to drive this effort.
$
40%
-$
User Groups 2016 1,198,870 $
2015 472,048 46%
1,336,000
-$ (137,130) $ 9%
-$ Community Groups
467,527 4,521
5%
Corporate/Functions
Living Springs Camps
Age Group Breakdown
User Groups
18% 40%
42%
46%
40% 9%
Community Groups
5%
Corporate/Functions
Living Springs Camps
Age Group Breakdown 18% 42%
Schools
Children
Youth
Adults
Schools
Page 12 - Financial Reports
Grants and Fundraising Living Springs enjoys partnering with others to help support our mission, and looks for ways to give people, organisations and businesses opportunities to helps. Much of our fundraising efforts over the past year have been focussed on the Founder Field project. This project has been on a huge scale and the impact will be huge and long term. It is a facility that will be well used for many years, and decades to come. Ongoing operational expenses continue regardless and we are grateful to the donations and grants we have received over the year. We have had much support focused around Children and Youth at cam. Christchurch City Council has given support for Linwood North School camp and funded our Springboard Leadership Training Camp. With a new leadership structure around our Kids Camps, we are
looking for further support for our Springboard Training Programme. Dublin Street Trust has once again invested into senior students from Aranui High School and Linwood College to attend the OnTrack Programme. This is a programme aimed at boosting academic performance of students studying for NCEA and giving them a positive association with school work and camping. Barrer & Co, Ken Lord, Astute Mode and Anderson Lloyd Lawyers also invest in this programme supporting students to attend. Environment Canterbury and the Canterbury Water Management Banks Peninsula Zone Committee and the Immediate Steps Funding Programme still help and support us with our environmental efforts and fencing. Rata Foundation continues to provide some support to our staffing budget.
Opportunities for Partnership Living Springs is an important place for so many schools, community groups and businesses and without it, the people of Canterbury would feel the loss. Please help support the efforts already being made by so many people and organisations and partner with us today. You can choose specific projects or areas you would like your donation to be attributed to. Financial support is needed for Kids Camp, Leadership Training, low-decile school camps, planting and conservation efforts, as well
as other ongoing costs such as heat pump installations, maintenance schedule, and replacing our 25 year old dishwasher. Please help us in areas you feel a passionate about and contact or denis@livingsprings.co.nz or wendy@ livingsprings.co.nz. Living Springs is a registered Charitable Trust and donations may quality for 33% tax rebate.
graphic design
Page 22 - Grants and Fundraising
218 Bamfords Road, RD1 Lyttelton, New Zealand. Tel: +64 3 3299 788 Email: info@livingsprings.co.nz www.livingsprings.co.nz