What is the Nudgee Trust?
Photo courtesy Pixabay/cocoparisienne
The Nudgee Trust provides grants to ministries sponsored by Mercy Partners. These grants enable ministries to extend the range or depth of mission as they provide critical support to those most vulnerable in our community.
History
The Nudgee Trust was established on 8 October 1869, the original objective of the Trust being “the maintenance and support of a Roman Catholic Benevolent Asylum”. This broad term covered a range of activities including an orphanage and support services to women in need.
The initial objects also allowed for aged care, education and health services. The Sisters established separate ministries that covered each of these areas in their early years in Brisbane. Some of the early works developed out of the Nudgee trust were:
- St Vincent’s Orphanage which was opened in 1867
- a teacher training college which was opened in 1894
- a house was established for young women who were not able to cope with secondary school education, and a nursery for the infants.
During the nineteen-nineties, work progressed to amend the Trust objects both in scope and language. As a result of much work, a successful cy-pres application was sealed at the Brisbane Supreme Court on 23 November 2000. The cy-pres application amended the Trust to be worded as follows:
The Trustee holds such lands “upon Trust for the provision and maintenance of facilities, resources and programs for the purposes of providing assistance, support, accommodation and counselling for children, adolescents and adults in need, including the intellectually and physically disabled and the aged and infirmed.”
Transfer to Mercy Partners
In 2018, the Sisters of Mercy Brisbane Congregation successfully applied to the Courts to transfer the Trustee role to Mercy Partners.
Since acquiring responsibility as trustee for the foundation on 1 January 2019, Mercy Partners has committed resources to support Indigenous family services, refugees, the vulnerable elderly and to boost crisis counselling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
