Welcome to the website of the River Heights Charitable Trust. We are a New Zealand-based charitable trust set up to provide financial support and assistance to community music and singing initiatives.If you are interested in applying for a grant, please read the information below to find out more about the application process and the types of initiatives the Trust may provide support to.
The next round of grant applications will be open from 1 July 2025 until 30 September 2025.

APPLY FOR FUNDING

The Trust aims to provide a number of grants each year, primarily targeting different community music and singing initiatives. We take a broad view of what such an initiative may be, so please apply if you are involved in something musical and are in need of funding or financial support, whether you are a group or an individual. Some examples of things that we would consider funding are:

  • Community choir groups

  • Bands

  • Musical equipment or instruments

  • Musical study (e.g. at university or a polytechnic)

Other criteria / important information:

  • Your initiative must be New Zealand-based or connected to New Zealand in a tangible way.

  • Grants may be up to $5,000 in value. Please provide plenty of detail on how much you are seeking and what it's for.

  • If you are applying on behalf of a legal entity such as a company, trust or incorporated society, then the relevant entity will need to have been in existence for at least 1 year prior to the application date. However, the Trust will consider exceptions in certain circumstances.

Grant applications will be open from 1 July 2025 until 30 September 2025. The Trust intends to make a decision and notify the successful applicants in late October 2025.
Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions about the application process.

ABOUT THE TRUST

The River Heights Charitable Trust was set up in 1996 by George Evans with the purpose of providing financial assistance to music and singing initiatives within the community, as well as other arts initiatives, and helping needy people in the community thrive and become more self-sufficient. At the time of George’s death in 2016, the Trust had been in abeyance for about 10 years and the only surviving Trustee was Doug Sellman, George’s nephew. Doug was aware of his Uncle’s wishes for the Trust to continue, if possible, as outlined in his Will. Doug was also aware that the majority of the work of the Trust up until that time had focussed on helping financially struggling people, where government support was lacking; and that little, if any, assistance had been given to music and singing as outlined in the first objective of the Trust Deed. He therefore became active in reviving the Trust with a primary objective of supporting community initiatives in music and singing, by providing grants to individuals and groups where there was obvious financial stress.Three new Trustees were invited to make up the revived Trust Board along with Doug (Chair/Secretary): Tim Cederman (Treasurer), Rosie Muir (Webmaster), and Lala Simpson.

CONTACT

Please get in touch if you have any questions about the Trust or the application process.
E: [email protected]