Community News

When many were facing a cost-of-living crisis and a chilly winter, the WBS Charitable Trust donated to the Pasifika O Wairarapa Trust to help it get firewood to the most vulnerable.

The second of the WBS Charitable Trust’s community funding rounds for 2024 opens at the beginning of October. Those wishing to apply for funding for their project or initiative will have six weeks to do so.

Many of our members have been with us for quite some time. Over their years with us, we inevitably become friends with those who keep in regular contact. One such investor is Warren Reiri of Masterton.

When Arna Lackner and Alex Tate started looking for their first home in Masterton, they came across the house of their dreams. But, while they had pre-approval to buy a home, the bank they were dealing with would not extend that approval to cover the dream home. That’s when Arna and Alex came to WBS and that’s when their dream home became a reality.

While home owners are our largest client base at WBS, we also lend to many business, commercial and property development clients. Among our many commercial clients is Loni Hansen from Neighbourhood Coffee in Martinborough.

Another team that we’re very proud to support is the Farrier’s Dalefield Premier Men’s hockey team.

We’re giving away three prizes for the best photos of people in our WBS Whetū the Penguin photoboards at the Festival of Christmas in Greytown.

We love sponsoring Wairarapa sports teams and helping them achieve their sporting goals. We are proud this year to sponsor the Gladdy Gold junior hockey team.

The highlight of the 2024 Wairarapa Film Festival is the attendance of Greytown-born artist, director, screenwriter and filmmaker, Vincent Ward (ONZM).

Most definitely among our younger investors, we were thrilled to recently welcome siblings Oscar and Esther Gleeson to WBS.

At WBS, we’re proud that our profits stay right here in the Wairarapa community. Through the WBS Charitable Trust, we support all sorts of groups and initiatives with grants.

Among the successful applicants in the WBS Charitable Trust’s October funding round was Arrow FM, who’d applied for a grant to buy wireless microphone and recording systems.

We couldn’t have been prouder of the St Matthew’s Collegiate First XI cricket team following their win in the 2023 NZC Venus Cup Nationals in December

They say that everyone has 15 minutes of fame. This past weekend it was our CE John’s turn, where he featured in an article in the Sunday Stars Times (and Stuff) about how CEOs spend their summer.

The credit rating agency Fitch has once again given WBS a stable BB+ rating, a score that the Masterton-based lending and investment provider has now held for more than 15 years.

Another local group that received support from the WBS Charitable Trust back in April was Wairarapa Hockey. Their Operations Manager, Sharon Gates, was in touch recently to let us know how their grant made a difference.

We recently closed our October funding round. We’ll soon let applicants know the results of their submissions. In the meantime, good news stories keep coming in from applicants in our April funding round. The latest of these stories was from the Wairarapa Spitfires Baseball Club.

What a pleasure it was to attend the WBS Wairarapa Awards Gala Dinner on Tuesday night. So many amazing individuals, businesses and organisations that are putting in the mahi on their own, or with a team, to have a positive impact in our community.

From humble beginnings come great things. This resonated in a chat with Emma Kitchingman, a local student and savvy student investor with WBS.

WBS turned 150 this year. As part of the WBS Charitable Trust’s celebration of this milestone, the Trust committed an investment of $150,000, to be shared through four grant funding rounds across this year and next.