Special General Meeting

Background to the Proposal 

The Friends of Storylines Ngā Pou o te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa (‘the Friends’) is an Incorporated Society that has existed for more than twenty years to support the work of the Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki (‘the Trust’).

In 2026 the Friends of Storylines Management Committee and the Storylines Children’s Literature Trustees have agreed on a proposal to merge, to strengthen the aims of both organisations. To do this the Friends of Storylines Incorporated Society has to be disbanded.

Therefore the Friends now seeks the approval of its membership to voluntarily wind up its operations as an Incorporated Society and merge with the Storylines Trust, for the ultimate benefit of Aotearoa New Zealand’s children and young adults and the nation-wide promotion of books and reading. 

The outcomes of the merger will include the following:

• The Trust will in future manage all the legal requirements such as returns to Charities Services, funding arrangements and annual audits of accounts. (Currently both Trust and Society need to comply separately with legal requirements.)

• The Friends’ financial assets will be transferred to the Trust, according to the provisos of the Society’s Constitution. (Currently Friends’ membership fees accrue in the Friends’ accounts, with the Friends’ Management Committee making occasional donations to the Trust primarily to support its programme of Story Tours and awards.)

• Therefore the Trust will now manage a single set of accounts, resulting in simpler and more efficient financial management of all Storylines activities and fund-raising. (Currently both entities have separate audited accounts and financial reserves.)

• Former financial Members of the Friends of Storylines will be known as Supporters and be able to continue their financial support of Storylines’ work. They will receive the same membership benefits (e.g. discounted entry to awards and events, Member-only website pages).

• The Trust will maintain opportunities for volunteer engagement through the new Supporter structure: i.e. a 12-member Supporter Working Group and specialist sub-committees working with the Trust’s paid staff (Executive Officer, Accountant and Operations Manager) to co-ordinate and manage volunteer input. This will enable better use of volunteers’ skills, energy and commitment. (Currently active volunteer input is mostly concentrated in the activities of the Friends’ elected Management Committee and associated subcommittees.)

• Administrative costs will be reduced, allowing more resources to be directed towards charitable book-related programmes benefiting young New Zealanders.

• The merger will maintain and improve the sense of community and shared purpose that characterises the Storylines mission of promoting enjoyment of books and reading:

‘He whakaoho kaipānui, he tautoko kaituhi, kaitā hoki
Inspiring young readers by supporting writers and illustrators’

At its June 2026 meeting, the Friends’ Management Committee approved the following motion:

I, Helen Villers, Storylines Chair, move the Management Committee of Storylines approve in principle the Storylines Trust Board proposal to merge both current entities of the organisation (the Management Committee and the Trust) into a single entity. 

Therefore, for the Special General Meeting to be held on 29 July 2026 the following motion will be moved by Helen Villers, chair of the Friends’ Management Committee:

That the Incorporated Society known as the Friends of Storylines Ngā Pou o te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa be voluntarily wound up and its financial assets be immediately transferred to the Storylines Charitable Trust of New Zealand Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa.

We urge all financial Members to register and attend the online meeting.