Lush green landscapes and rolling hills, quaint pubs, and bustling country schools.
Central Hawke’s Bay is characterised by all of the above, but like other rural regions in New Zealand, it faces many of the same challenges including high cost of living, rising unemployment and isolation.
That’s why place-based giving has become key to the area – that is, Central Hawke’s Bay residents giving to the Central Hawke’s Bay community.
Illustrating that kaupapa perfectly, BEL Group founder Andrea Barry’s named family fund, splits distributions between educational scholarships for employees and their families, support for Sherwood School, and three rotating Central Hawke’s Bay charities each year.
The aim is very much to support local people, says Andrea using Hawkes’ Bay Foundation to set up the fund, administer it and coordinate distributions from it – a streamlined way to give back. “People, agriculture and community are all really important values for myself, my family and BEL Group. Having Hawke’s Bay Foundation assist with setting up and co-ordinating this has been of great benefit to us.”
Then there’s the EPIC Ministries Fund. EPIC collaborates with schools and community organisations in the region, offering a range of in-school and after-school programmes, plus camps – all of which contribute to youth resilience, fostering fun, inclusion and leadership development, all within Central Hawke’s Bay’s borders.
Hawke’s Bay Foundation’s Executive Officer, Alesha Hope, knows the community well – because she’s part of it! Having moved to Central Hawke’s Bay with partner Sam in 2021, she’s noted how engaged and energised the area is, full of passionate people who prioritise giving back. “Geographically, Central Hawke’s Bay is quite vast, but the community is very close,” she explains. “I’m really impressed with the amount of volunteer involvement too. People foster strong personal connections to a range of causes and it seems as if the locals are keen to give as much time as they can to those they believe in.”
Hawke’s Bay Foundation’s role, then, is to “get in behind” an already enthusiastic district, she says – to raise awareness of the existence of the community foundation and to connect with the organisations doing the hard mahi. “We recently attended a very successful funding workshop in the community, and we connect more regularly via Trish Giddens who sits on our distributions committee. As a CHB resident, it’s her role on the committee to understand her communities’ challenges and organisation’s that are addressing these, when we’re making our annual funding decisions.”
In 2025, distributions from the annual funding round were shared among eight not-for-profits and organisations based in Central Hawke’s Bay – including Central Hawke’s Bay Budget Services, Central Hawke’s Bay Parents Centre, and the aforementioned EPIC Ministries.
And that’s outside of the additional support offered by funders like the Barry family. Alesha says she’d love to see more local families or entities consider a named fund, which ring-fences its distributions for the causes, concerns, or community they are most connected to. “For Andrea and the BEL Group, that’s making sure the next generation is well educated, well supported and on the pathway to success.
“There’s absolutely no doubt that place-based giving appeals strongly to Central Hawke’s Bay donors who want assurance their contributions remain local and add real value to their community.”
