Otepuni Gardens - Invercargill Trusts

Invercargill Trusts

The Invercargill Licensing Trust is one of several trusts in the city of Invercargill. It has a monopoly on the development of premises licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages, and associated accommodation, in the city and uses the profits from these to fund school, sports and cultural groups, and welfare bodies. Along with its Charitable Trust and Sports Foundation it provides donations and sponsorships of approximately $10 million annually to nearly 500 organisations. The Invercargill Licensing Trust and the ILT Foundation are major funders of community projects in Invercargill. These range from major developments such as Stadium Southland and the Invercargill ILT Velodrome, to helping grass-roots projects such as supplying interactive electronic whiteboards for local schools or a new learners’ swimming pool at Splash Palace, Invercargill's public swimming baths

The Community Trust of Southland was set up after Westpac bought out the Trust Bank Southland in the 1980s. It was sold for approximately $150 million dollars, and a trust was set up for the money. Every year the interest is used by organisations by placing a grant. The trust is also a major sponsor for sports teams in the region including the Southland Stags, Southern Steel and Southland Sharks. The trust represents the people in the area previously served by Trust Bank Southland, which includes all of the province of Southland plus Queenstown, Arrowtown and Tapanui. It is widely recognised as one of New Zealand's leading community trusts, with the benefit of a large capital base for a relatively small population. Consequently, the Trust provides significant funding to a wide range of projects and programmes. Each year, it distributes between $7 and $10 million in the region, not including the large sums given to sports franchises and building projects and since its inception has distributed close to $140 million in grants. With the licensing trust and community trust, Southland as a region considers itself as one of the wealthiest for its size.