{"id":600681,"date":"2026-09-15T03:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T03:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/600681\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T03:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T03:00:10","slug":"bequest-of-ron-gillatt-gifts-unprecedented-60m-to-christchurch-charities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/600681\/","title":{"rendered":"Bequest of Ron Gillatt gifts unprecedented $60m to Christchurch charities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe buried him with his latest Warren Buffett book,\u201d she said of Gillatt\u2019s 2024 funeral.<\/p>\n

\"RonRon and Joan Gillatt. Photo \/ The Ron and Joan Gillatt Charitable Trust<\/p>\n

The Companies Office records Gillatt remained an active investor until the first decade of the 2000s, and had bought stakes in dozens of startups. At one stage he was a 7% shareholder in Syft Technologies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were both very special people, but very modest and unassuming,\u201d Kathy said. <\/p>\n

The Gillatts\u2019 Avonhead home was sold by estate executors last year for $970,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe caught the bus, using his [Super Gold] card so that was free, so he and they lived a very quiet and unassuming life. He was a banker with the BNZ, a bank manager,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

He had kept a very low profile during his life. Newspaper archives record him receiving prizes for banking and securities studies while at Canterbury University in the 1960s, but he was quoted just once in news media during his lifetime.<\/p>\n

In 1994, at the 25th anniversary of Tait Electronics, Gillatt spoke in honour of founder Sir Angus Tait. \u201cIn my opinion he is a great man … though he is self-effacing and always gives credit to others,\u201d the Press reported Gillatt saying.<\/p>\n

Gillatt had managed the BNZ\u2019s relationship with Tait since the technology company\u2019s formation, and retired in 1993 as the bank\u2019s business manager.<\/p>\n

Ron and Joan had given considerable thought to what should happen to their discreet fortune after their passing, with the Ron and Joan Gillatt Charitable Trust founded in 2001.<\/p>\n

Wynn Williams partner Annabel Sheppard assisted the Gillatts with the trust\u2019s formation 25 years ago, and became a trustee after Ron\u2019s death in order to manage his extraordinary bequest.<\/p>\n

\"AnnabelAnnabel Sheppard, partner at Wynn Williams and trustee of the Ron and Joan Gillatt Charitable Trust.<\/p>\n

Sheppard told the Herald it was a privilege to have known the couple.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were both only children, Ron and Joan, and they didn\u2019t have children, and they were philanthropic, and they have set up a legacy forever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The trust\u2019s first set of financial accounts, to March 2025, show it held $9m in cash, $37.9m in shares and another $13.5m in bonds for a total capital base of $60.4m.<\/p>\n

The trust is structured to be perpetual, and its deed calls for two-thirds of surpluses to be reinvested, and the remaining third divided up in a precise formula to be annually distributed to 15 Christchurch-based charities, churches and clubs to help fund capital expenditure.<\/p>\n

With this setup, presuming relatively conservative 6% returns, trust capital is likely to grow beyond $100m by the end of the next decade and provide an ever-rising stream of funding for its beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

Beneficiaries spoken to by the Herald this week said the first distribution was made late last year, but they had been informed that one-off costs incurred on establishment \u2013 and capital growth \u2013 would likely see larger distributions in future.<\/p>\n

One quarter of trust distributions \u2013 effectively the proceeds of $15m in capital \u2013 are flagged for the tram and model railway enthusiasts based at Ferrymead Heritage Park.<\/p>\n

One fifth of distributions (20%) \u2013 the largest individual beneficiary share \u2013 is directed to flow to the Tramway Historical Society (THS). Another twentieth (5%) is going to the modest Garden City Model Railway Club.<\/p>\n

The bequest provides outsized financial backing for the two organisations. THS recorded $71,762 of income last year, and the Model Railway Club recorded just $46,812. Both groups were unaware of Gillatt\u2019s intentions \u2013 or in the latter case, even his existence \u2013 before being contacted by the Trust.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Tramways Historic Society in Ferrymead, Christchurch. Photo \/ Anna Heath. <\/p>\n

Ron Gillatt had been a member of THS since 2010, treasurer and former president Stephen Taylor said.<\/p>\n

Gillatt was said not to have been particularly interested in driving or working on trams, but he and his wife were regular attendees at society social functions.<\/p>\n

Taylor said a decade ago, THS was struggling to fundraise $100,000 for a storage building to keep historic and work-in-progress machinery out of the weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brought out a chequebook \u2013 back in the days when there were chequebooks \u2013 and was sort of willing to write us a cheque on the spot, so long as we agreed to pay him back in the fullness of time,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n

THS ultimately declined the loan offer, worried about the effect of a liability on its cash-strapped balance sheet, and eventually raised the funds piecemeal in the following years.<\/p>\n

Gillatt\u2019s last involvement at THS was attending its AGM in September 2023, a few months before his death. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt that stage Joan had passed. Ron didn\u2019t drive, so he relied on Joan to get to meetings, and after she passed he would take the bus,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThat was the last time we\u2019d seen him.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was only after his death, as lawyers sought to settle paperwork, that Taylor became aware THS was listed as the primary beneficiary of Gillatt\u2019s extraordinarily large bequest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think on a large scale, but unfortunately our finances weren\u2019t able to support that,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Garden City Model Railway Club in Ferrymead, Photo \/ Anna Heath <\/p>\n

Things have now changed: \u201cA lot of projects that were potentially going to happen [over] a long period of time can be done sooner and quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Douglas Mack, the president of the Model Railway Club, said he was unaware Gillatt even existed until contacted by the trust last year \u2013 more than a year after Ron\u2019s passing \u2013 and they could only speculate how they had been named beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he had some involvement with the THS at Ferrymead. But it appears that he just maybe went for a walk around the park and he found us and happened to talk to one of our members and he was impressed with what we were doing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Remaining beneficiaries were a mixture of healthcare providers and local churches, schools and institutions that featured in Ron and Joan\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

The Fred Hollows Foundation and the Christchurch Charity Hospital are each directed to receive 10% of proceeds. The Order of St John South Island Region Trust Board and the Christchurch branch of the Nurse Maude District Nursing Association are each to receive 5%.<\/p>\n

Hagley Community College and Riccarton High School \u2013 attended by Ron and Joan as children \u2013 are each to receive 5% to provide scholarships for students to attend university. Two Anglican churches in Halswell and Hornby, and the Halswell Community Hall, are also flagged as 5% beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

Rhema Media and the Cats Protection League Canterbury, each getting a 5% share, round out the list of recipients.<\/p>\n

The latter beneficiary was subject to a 2021 amendment to trust rules requiring the League to \u201csupervise the ongoing welfare of any cats that are owned by Ronald Joseph Gillatt at the date of his death\u201d.<\/p>\n

This provision was ultimately not required: \u201cSadly the Gillatt\u2019s cat died before they did,\u201d Sheppard told the Herald.<\/p>\n

Sheppard\u2019s role with the trust has not just been bearing good news to beneficiaries. In the months after Ron\u2019s passing, she had to go to the High Court at Christchurch to vary the terms of the trust after finding her settlor\u2019s collecting of physical artefacts did not match his financial management.<\/p>\n

The court heard the trust had originally been instructed to preserve and protect his beloved collection of stamps, DVDs and magazines, and ensure his 73-piece art collection found a good home \u2013 ideally public display at the Christchurch Art Gallery.<\/p>\n

Sheppard submitted that what she found at Gillatt\u2019s home had little value, or worse. Much of it was \u201crubbish with no enduring importance\u201d.<\/p>\n

Justice Rachel Dunningham records: \u201cShe was shocked at the sheer amount of property stored there. Furthermore, it was haphazardly stored, some of it was infested with silverfish and insects, and much of it was valueless paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stamp collection was valued in its entirety as possibly being worth $3000, but a valuer said it was \u201cnot readily marketable\u201d. The artworks ranged in value from $20 to $1600 each, but experts said none were considered significant enough to display in any New Zealand public collection.<\/p>\n

Sheppard submitted that being required to indefinitely preserve items of dubious or no value would not serve a charitable purpose and would be a drain on trust resources.<\/p>\n

Justice Dunningham granted the orders, and directed the chattels be disposed of as trustees deemed fit.<\/p>\n

The Gillatt\u2019s bequest is believed to be the third-largest charitable donation in New Zealand history, behind only US billionaire Julian Robertson\u2019s bequest of $200m worth of paintings to the Auckland Art Gallery in 2022 and Auckland farmer Harold Plumley\u2019s gift of $122m to the Auckland Catholic Church after his death in 2016.<\/p>\n

Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter covering the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism \u2013 including twice being named Reporter of the Year \u2013 and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting from business newspapers and national magazines.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe buried him with his latest Warren Buffett book,\u201d she said of Gillatt\u2019s 2024 funeral. Ron and Joan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7501,263562,18919,33846,1558,4057,296002,910,138,6932,19699,34040,4487,6179,2245,2740,78933,296003,305,296005,10053,296006,87610,101,9066,93,1132,48976,130,111,139,69,1118,31531,238412,31906,180,296007,95461,131,61,38485,296004,19347,296008,102,19985],"class_list":["post-600681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-7501","tag-60m","tag-aged","tag-along","tag-been","tag-behind","tag-bequest","tag-bonds","tag-business","tag-cash","tag-cats","tag-charities","tag-christchurch","tag-died","tag-early","tag-former","tag-gifts","tag-gillatt","tag-have","tag-hoarder","tag-house","tag-infested","tag-junk","tag-left","tag-loved","tag-manager","tag-million","tag-modest","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-pile","tag-ron","tag-seemed","tag-shares","tag-silverfish","tag-stuffed","tag-than","tag-to","tag-trains","tag-trams","tag-unprecedented","tag-wellmanaged","tag-with","tag-worth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}