About the Christine Taylor Foundation

Richmond Fellowship (New Zealand) was established in 1978 after a group of concerned mental health professionals met to discuss the urgent need for an alternative to state-run institutions. The parents of a young person with a serious illness had researched alternatives, found Richmond U.K. and sponsored Peggy Zeisler to visit, learn, and advise on a possible RF NZ.

The recommendation was positive, and groups were formed to establish therapeutic communities. Christine Taylor with Peggy headed the Auckland group. The initial five Richmond Fellowship services linked to become a New Zealand wide service.  Christine, with the other four regional chairs, was instrumental in setting service standards and guidelines.I was chair of the Wellington regional committee. We were all working voluntarily.  Our constant worry was about finding funds to pay staff, funds to print and distribute materials, how to confer on common concerns and how to resolve them.

As the Fellowship proved successful and service contracts were gained, it was possible to make some economies of scale and to build up some funds for administration.  Each contract contained a small amount of money for administration.  As volunteers, we did not pay ourselves as we oversaw the management of each community.  The contract money was managed prudently and slowly accrued. Careful records were kept, and funders could see good results as we reported.  It was demanding, careful work shared by the five regions committees.  Christine had strong administrative skills in addition to her academic background.  These she attributed to the wisdom of her parents who insisted that she do a basic business course before going to university. This was a factor in our ability to develop a sound business.

Later as Chair of the Fellowship, Christine remained conscious of the very real practical difficulties in setting up a new service, of employing staff and distributing information to potential clients and their families and how the service needed to be able to demonstrate the ability to continue.  RNZ had been able to build up some savings because so much was done voluntarily.

Mental illness has been, still is, the Cinderella amongst our health services.  There have been relatively few donors or sponsors (other than the Williams Family Trust in 1978) that enable new, small mental health services to get off the ground, and that, once operational, keep them running.  Typically, small organizations find it very hard to get those essential dollars to advertise their services and provide the materials that support the volunteers and part-time staff who do the work.

It was Christine who recommended that RNZ’s savings be invested and become the Richmond Foundation, the charitable arm of Richmond Fellowship in 1995, Her hope and that of other Trustees was that the initial small fund could be supplemented by donations, gifts and interest, to a sizeable amount, from which small grants could be made to mental health services throughout the country each year.

The earlier Mental Health Telethon of 1977 had been a great success, but its Trustees had decided to pay out all the money raised in one year. That had been very helpful but without regular small amounts of money for ongoing administration and materials, some small groups folded.  The Foundation’s aim was to make small and regular grants to direct services working in mental health –  true grassroots support.

The Directors of Richmond Fellowship (RNZ) had been concerned about the confusion, at least in the public mind, that arose from two registered services (RNZ and RNZ Foundation) with similar names, but different purposes.

Although in practice there was none, there were concerns about conflict of interest.  After consultation between the two bodies, the decision was made by the Richmond Foundation’s Board to apply for a change of name.  Almost immediately the Board formed the view that the new name should be that of the Foundation’s originator, Christine Taylor, and with the approval and support of her husband Michael, the legal process was started.

Judith MacKenzie – Colleague and friend

Christine was one of this world’s truly good people.  She gave of herself, volunteering her time, giving of her knowledge, guiding and supporting others in their work for the betterment of the society we live in.  She had vision and ideas and practicality in her approach and practice.  She was very aware of the disruption that mental illness, indeed any illness, can have on the lives of individuals and their families.  She saw the importance of small niche services for what they could offer people and their community, always stressing the need for quality – which would take her back to the need for funding sources.

I am sure she would now be commending the Foundation (as do I) for its ongoing work, well aware of the time and good will of those continuing to manage the funds and distribute grants.

Judith MacKenzie