Board statement on Nelson Grey Power Incorporated

Published 12 October 2021

On 10 September 2021, Te Rātā Atawhai, the Charities Registration Board (“the Board”) decided to register Nelson Grey Power Incorporated (the Society). The Board considers the Society now advances exclusively charitable purposes with a primary charitable purpose of relieving the needs of the elderly.

The Board notes that, since its initial decision to decline the Society’s application in December 2020, the Society has adopted a new purpose in its constitution that is charitable as supporting relief of the elderly; and has carried out activities to support elderly people in charitable need.

Consistent with the Board’s updated approach to assessing advocacy(external link), the Board also considers the Society’s advocacy can now be accepted as having a charitable end goal to relieve the needs of the elderly, and the views it promotes are sufficiently connected with its charitable end goal to relieve the needs of the elderly.

Given the Society’s focus on relieving the needs of the elderly, the Board also considers the Society’s support for the Grey Power New Zealand Federation is ancillary to its charitable purpose.

On this basis, the Board considers the Society qualifies for registration because it has a primary charitable purpose to relieve the needs of the elderly.

 

Gwen Keel

Chair

 

The role of the Board

The role of the Board is to maintain the integrity of the Charities Register by ensuring that entities on the Charities Register qualify for registration. Under the Charities Act 2005, the Board is responsible for registering and de-registering charities. The Board took over these functions from the former Charities Commission in 2012. The Board makes its decisions based on the facts before it, applying the law including relevant case law. The Board must agree to register applications from organisations when they advance exclusively charitable purposes for the public benefit.