Charitable trust created to support Hawera High School students

Investing in the region's future is the top priority for a new trust set up in Hawera.

The HHS Charitable Trust trustees aim to raise $250,000 by 2019 in a bid to support the region's future leaders through their education.

Trust chairman Neil Taylor said the group would assist with funding at the school for projects not covered by the annual operational grants.

"The elite schools in this country all seem to have Trusts... why can we not have one here in Hawera?" he said.

"This Trust is completely separate from the school. It's run by a different group of people. We're not the Board of Trustees, we're not the students. We're a completely separate group of people running the Trust for the benefit of the school."

Taylor said the goal was to ensure no pupil or teach at the school missed an opportunity through lack of financial resource.

"We won't be doing that until we get our magical $250,000 target."

They will then begin distributing the interest.

At this point, the total raised sits at $108,000. Taylor hoped donations, bequests, and a fundraising website www.givealittle.co.nz/org/hawerahighschoolcharitabletrust would help raise the rest of the funds needed.

"We need to work hard to see if we can get that amount of money."