Meet Our Sponsors - The Hugo Charitable Trust
Carrying on the theme from last week, we are delighted to introduce you to another of our sponsors.
The Hugo Charitable Trust have been right by our side since the inception of the Special Award and have sponsored four of our winners so far.
Here are a few words from their Chair of the Board - Mark Owens.
Aoibheann (Aveen), Mark, Kathryn and Bruce
The Hugo Charitable Trust (Hugo) was founded in 2017 by Maryanne Green to continue her father, Hugh Green's, legacy of helping others.
Hugh was born in County Donegal, Ireland, the fifth of eight children. Money was scarce, but Hugh did whatever it took to earn what he could for the family. He finished his school days at the age of twelve when he left to work as a cattle drover in Donegal before heading to Scotland to work with the Hydroelectric Board on their “Power from the Glens” tunnelling project after World War 2.
At eighteen and armed with a “few bob” in his pocket, he bought a ten-pound ticket to Australia, hoping to make enough money to return to Ireland and set himself up in the cattle business. A brief stopover in New Zealand changed everything after he met Moira, with whom he would settle and have his family.
With little formal education, it was not surprising that Hugh had limited reading and writing when he started a contracting business in Auckland with Barney McCahill. Competing for complex public works contracts, it didn’t take long for Hugh to develop his reading skills to a high level, although he never really wrote a lot down. Many of his business colleagues told stories of Hugh getting the better of the top legal minds with his ability to understand and interpret complex contracts to his advantage.
Hugh worked hard throughout his life and instilled strong Catholic values in his children. His eldest daughter, Maryanne, worked closely by his side for over 25 years before Hugh sadly passed away in 2012.
Since our establishment in 2017we have donated over $16m to many varied New Zealand charities and have grown our capital base to $80m.
Hugo was delighted when, in 2018, John Pauwels contacted us to see if we would be interested in hearing about a scholarship he was starting to assist young, less-advantaged people in pursuing a flying career.
John and our chairman, Mark, had worked together for many years at Air New Zealand, so we knew him well.
We knew that when John set about doing something, he would not rest until it was done and that it would be done right. We could see that a Pauwels Flying Scholarship was for candidates with a passion, not just “a good idea”, and only candidates with the ability and drive to succeed would be selected. We knew our money wouldn’t be wasted.
It has been a privilege to support the Pauwels Flying Scholarship and see our previous recipients progress toward their first step on the ladder of what will undoubtedly be an enriching career. As the saying goes - Mark and John both know first-hand that a pilot “never works a day in their life”.
Mark in his happy place!
Thanks Mark and the team at Hugo for your commitment and belief - both in us and in our scholarship winners.
Reader, if this is something that resonates with you and you'd like to help, please take a look at our Sponsorship page - https://www.pauwelsflyingscholarship.co.nz/sponsors
