Our Story

Our path to helping shape and change the way children who live with serious diseases and health conditions are diagnosed and treated.

See Our Story

We have a lot to tell

Our Vision

Healthier children, with a brighter future

Our Mission

Investing in research to transform the health of children

Who We Are

We focus on raising funding to enable high-impact, New Zealand-based medical research to help save, extend and improve the lives of children diagnosed with serious life-impacting and life-limiting health conditions.

Cure Kids was established by Rotary in 1971 as the Child Health Research Foundation, and since then we have invested more than $65 million in New Zealand research which has helped to shape and vastly improve the way children who live with serious diseases and health conditions are diagnosed and treated.

Cure Kids’ funding supports researchers across New Zealand whose work focuses on childhood cancers, inherited heart conditions, epilepsy, infectious diseases, cystic fibrosis, sudden unexpected death in infants (SUDI), stillbirth, burns as well as child and adolescent mental health – and many, many other areas of research.

Cure Kids is the largest charitable funder of child health research outside the government. We work hard to support the best research possible to make a measurable difference to the health and well-being of children in New Zealand. This is made possible by the continued generosity of individuals, businesses and community groups across our remarkable country.

 

Governance

The Cure Kids team is made up of passionate and determined people who are all driven by the same goal; to find the cures that so many of our children need.

 

Cure Kids members

The five Cure Kids Members participate in constitutional and governance management aspects of Cure Kids. Three are drawn from our founding partner, Rotary in New Zealand, continuing its proud association and support of Cure Kids. The fourth Member is the current President or nominee of the Paediatric Society of New Zealand, while the fifth Member is a South Island based nominee from the Board of Paediatricians of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

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  • Beryl Robinson
    Rotary in New Zealand
  • Tony Fortune
    Rotary in New Zealand
  • Bruce Rasmussen
    Rotary in New Zealand
  • Dr Nicola Austin
    Paediatric Society of New Zealand
  • Associate Professor Philip Pattemore
    Royal Australasian College of Physicians

 

Cure Kids Board

The Board provides governance management; administering and controlling Cure Kids. To ensure there is a breadth of experience around the Board table, the constitution requires that the Board includes at least four members with business experience, as well as a Chartered Accountant currently or formerly in public practice and the Chair or a representative of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee.

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  • Franceska Banga (Chair)
    ONZM
  • Barrie Campbell
    Secretary/Treasurer, Cure Kids ACA. Consultant to BKR Walker Wayland, Auckland
  • Frances Benge
    Chief Executive Officer, Cure Kids
  • Alaister Wall
    Deputy Managing Director, Briscoe Group Limited
  • Dee-Ann Wolferstan
  • Kaihautu – Chief Executive, Te Iwi o Ngati Kahu (Social Services for Ngati Kahu Runanga), Te Whare Ruruhau o Meri Trust (Te Pihopatanga o Te Tai Tokerau Social Service), and Te Kahui Mana Ririki Trust.
  • Roy Austin
    CNZM BCom, CA. Consultant to Northington Partners, Auckland
  • Russ Hewitt
    Senior Exec, Vodafone
  • Professor Sally Merry
    Cure Kids Duke Family Chair of Child and Adolescent Mental Health
  • Professor Stephen Robertson
    BMedSci, MBChB (OTAGO), FRACP, DPhil (OXFORD). Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin

 

Cure Kids Board Advisors

The Board also has the ability to co-opt Advisors as non-voting Board Directors. The current Board have co-opted the four Cure Kids Professorial Chairs as advisors.

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  • Professor Stephen Robertson
    Cure Kids Chair of Paediatric Genetics
  • Professor Andrew Day
    Cure Kids Chair of Paediatric Research
  • Professor Stuart Dalziel
    Cure Kids Chair of Child Health Research
  • Professor Terryann Clark
    Cure Kids Chair in Youth and Adolescent Mental Health

 

 

Cure Kids Medical and Scientific Assessment Committee

Cure Kids’ Medical and Scientific Assessment Committee (M&SAC) advises Cure Kids on which research projects to invest in.

Advisors draw on their considerable experience to assess applications based on scientific excellence, the expertise of the team and collaborators, and the potential impact for reducing inequities, and transforming the health of children.

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  • Professor Andrew Day
    MBChB (Otago), MD, FRACP.
  • Professor Stephen Robertson
    BMedSci, MBChB (Otago), FRACP, DPhil (Oxford).
  • Professor Barry Taylor
    MBChB (Otago), FRACP.
  • Professor Sally Merry
    MBChB, FRANZCP, MD.
  • Associate Professor Justin Dean
    MBBS, DCH, FRACP, FRCPCH, DSc (Med), FRSNZ.
  • Professor Ed Mitchell
    MBChB (OTAGO), FRACP, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Dunedin School of Medicine. University of Otago, Dunedin
  • Professor Ian Morison
    BMedSc, MBChB, FRCPA, PhD.
  • Professor Stuart Dalziel
    MBChB (Otago), FRACP.
  • Professor Te Kani Kingi
    MSocSc, DipMDev, PhD, MRSNZ, Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāti Awa
  • Dr Teuila Percival
    QSO, MBChB, FRACP
  • Dr Patricia Anderson
    SRN, MPhil, PhD

Cure Kids Emeritus Advisors

Cure Kids is also privileged to be able to seek advice from several experienced academics who have served on Cure Kids’ Assessment Committee for many years, and have made significant contributions to Cure Kids, and to the health of children in New Zealand.

  • Professor Alastair Gunn
  • Professor Brian Darlow
  • Professor Ed Mitchell
  • Professor Sally Merry

Member of the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand

You can donate to Cure Kids with assurance and confidence. Our fundraising principles are built on our core values – integrity, honesty and respect.

Cure Kids is a member of the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand (FINZ), the professional body that represents professional fundraising in New Zealand.

As members of the institute, we adhere to the standards outlined in the FINZ Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. This means we will:

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  • Act honestly and truthfully so that public trust is protected, and donors, beneficiaries and supporters are not misled.
  • Act with respect for the dignity of our profession and our organisation, and with respect for the dignity of donors, beneficiaries and supporters.
  • Act openly and with regard to our responsibility for public trust. We will disclose all actual or potential conflicts of interest and avoid any ethical, personal or professional misconduct.
  • We work in a way that promotes our purpose and encourages others to use the same professional standards and engagement. We will value individual privacy, freedom of choice, and diversity in all its forms.
  • We will produce clear reports about what we do, the way donations are managed and disbursed, and costs and expenses in an accurate and clear manner.

 

A relationship built on mutual respect

We endeavour to develop meaningful relationships with those who support us through donations, fundraising, bequests, grants, the provision of products, business services and general support. We ensure every effort goes into our administrative processes, particularly receipt generation and donation acknowledgment, and are processed in a timely manner.

If you’d like to discuss our fundraising practices, please contact us.