CAMBRIDGE NEWS | 1
THURSDAY OCTOBER 17, 2024
7 Peake Road Cambridge 07 827 6259
Introducing our new selection of flowers, called the ‘Pick Me!’ range! Grow your very own cut flowers and brighten up any room. Available now.
FREE
It’s a real local newspaper
OCTOBER 17, 2024
Business duo ‘give back’
Bridging the gap: Kevin Burgess, left, and David Cooney standing on Victoria “High Level” bridge, in a statement of Cambridge coming together.
By Mary Anne Gill
An endowment fund for Cambridge and by Cambridge was launched yesterday by two semi-retired businessmen who say they set it up because they want the town to benefit financially year after year from it. Pharmacist Kevin Burgess and insurance broker David Cooney have already helped to raise thousands of dollars for community facilities like the Community House and other charitable organisations but say the endowment fund will run as a different model.
“It’s give back time for us,” said Burgess as both he and Cooney had done well financially in Cambridge. “Philanthropy at its core is about compassion - the act of seeing a need and responding with meaningful support,” said Burgess who announced at a function in Te Awa Lifecare yesterday that 3M developers Mitch Plaw, Mike and Matt Smith had kicked the fund off with a gift of an unencumbered section of land in Bridleways Estate. Cooney said he had no doubt “tradies would get onboard” and help build a house on the section for nothing and the money from its
Are Your Term Deposits Maturing?
CAM6545-27-September 2024
(07) 823 0800 48 Empire Street
series of successful fundraisers for the Rotary Trust and their recent semi-retirement from business. “The intention all along has been to build a meaningful fund to be able to support the Cambridge community,” he said. “If you go back in time, the vision for what we’re doing now started way back with Jack Shannon and Ron Osmond and those days when some of the older names in Cambridge were looking to do things. “We’ve got the motivation now and we’ve got the model that will make it happen,” he said.
To make a meaningful difference in Cambridge, the fund needs multi millions. “I’ve had a passion for this for a long, long time but it’s been hampered,” said Cooney. “We’ve tried with the original Rotary Trust which has morphed into the Cambridge Community Charitable Trust – you take two steps forward and two steps back. It’s going like that all the time. The need is there you get some money in, and you immediately give it out, so your capital base is not growing.”
Continued on page 2
Cambridge, your stories are in safe hands.
With deposit interest rates falling, it may be time to explore bonds and shares as a compelling opportunity for long-term income and growth. For a no-obligation chat about how we can help you manage your wealth and invest with confidence, contact us today.
sale would go into the endowment fund. The Cambridge Community Fund will be managed by Momentum Waikato, an independent community foundation that enables generous people to grow their donations. It already manages investments for 25 other Waikato trusts including Maungatautari Sanctuary Nest Egg Fund, McKenzie Centre, Te Awamutu College Foundation, Waikato Community Rugby and Waikato Sick Babies Trust. Cooney said he and Burgess hatched up the idea following a
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
2 Albert Street, Cambridge. 07 827 7649 | www.legacyfunerals.co.nz