The New Zealand Communities Growth Trust was established by High Court Order in March 2000. It is a reformation of the former Centrepoint Community Growth Trust, which established and operated an intentional community in Albany from the late 1970s to the 1990s.
The High Court appointed Public Trust as Trustee and provided for charitable grants to be made under four separate categories. This category is for the New Zealand Communities Growth Trust (NZCGT) Relief of Poverty Applications. Please click here for the other categories.
Open to individuals disadvantaged by cults and/or spiritual communities including former residents of Centrepoint.
Applications are considered only after the closing dates of the 15th and 30th of each month, or the preceding working day if the date falls on a weekend or public holiday. In December, all applications will be considered only after the 15th of the month.
Click here for the relief of poverty application form.
An application for Relief of Poverty must:
Be completed in full, signed & dated,
Demonstrate a clear need for support based on their personal circumstances, along with some difficulty in being able to meet that need on their own,
For first time applicants, include a brief explanation in your cover email about how you have experienced disadvantage or harm within a religious cult or spiritual community,
Provide a valid form of identification to us. This is part of our audit & compliance obligations; we are now required to hold on file a valid ID for all clients. You will need to email this to us with your application. This will need to be a colour scanned copy or a clear photo of your valid ID. (If you have not provided that to us previously). If you are providing your Driver Licence, please ensure that both sides are included. If you do not hold a Driver Licence, a colour scanned copy or photo of your Birth Certificate will be acceptable.
Also please ensure you've explored other available avenues of financial assistance, such as support from Work & Income or a Hardship Withdrawal from your KiwiSaver provider. Please let us know if you've taken these steps & provide us with their written response.
for all supporting documents, include the following:
Full copies of all bank statements for the last 2 months,
Evidence of income / benefits for you and your partner (if applicable),
Full copies of any credit card statements for the last 2 months,
Medical reports (if applicable),
Quotes or estimates dated within 4 weeks of the application date (if applicable).
If you are eligible for any assistance from WINZ please check: Benefits and payments - Work and Income. Eligible applicants must provide the outcome of assistance provided by WINZ with their application form or a request for hardship withdrawal via yours and / or your partner's KiwiSaver. Please visit: Getting my KiwiSaver savings for significant financial hardship
Please note that if the required supporting documentation is not provided, there may be a delay in processing the outcome
For more information you can call the Public Trust Charities team on 0800 371 471 (please mention your query relates to NZCGT) or email us at [email protected]