THE ADASTRA FOUNDATION
Our vision is to provide opportunity for extraordinary young New Zealanders striving for excellence. Through funding and a strong focus on personal development and education, The Adastra Foundation Scholarship programme supports individuals to help them pursue their dreams and develop as leaders in their communities.
The Adastra Foundation has been providing scholarships to extraordinary young New Zealanders since 2007.
In that time, the Foundation has supported hundreds of athletes and performing artists with more than $2m and dozens of customised mentoring programmes.
In mid-2022, the Board completed a strategic review of its vision and purpose and agreed to refine its priorities. It wanted to ensure that it provided support where it was most needed and to those exceptional young people who might otherwise struggle to achieve their dreams. As such, consideration is also given to exceptional young people who face financial or personal hardship.
Adastra offers scholarships to extraordinary young athletes and performing artists (dancers, singer/songwriters and musicians), from Waikato and Bay of Plenty, who are seeking support in their pursuit of excellence. Our programme includes a cash scholarship and personal development workshops, specifically designed for young adults aiming to be the best they can be – on and off their stage. A key part of the Adastra ethos is the personal development programme guided by leading professionals in their field.
Adastra is grateful to be supported by Grassroots Trust, The Lion Foundation, TECT, The Brian Perry Charitable Trust, Craigs Investment Partners, The Acorn Foundation, Callum & Lindy Malcolm, the Merito & Hill Families, BDO Tauranga and Construction Advantage Limited.
Sponsored Scholarships
Adastra is delighted to offer sponsored scholarships where recipients are “tagged” with a sponsor.
We are excited to be able to offer Craigs Investment Partners scholarships. Craigs is one of New Zealand’s leading investment advisory firms. Their network of investment advisers are supported by an award winning research team to help clients achieve their investment goals. Achieving goals is important to the team at Craigs Investment Partners and they share that same passion for achieving investment goals with seeing young adults in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty communities achieve their life goals by pushing boundaries on the national and international stage.
We also offer sponsored scholarships with The Acorn Foundation, BDO, Construction Advantage, Callum & Lindy Malcolm and the Merito & Hill Family.
The Brian Perry Charitable Trust has been an integral cog in the Adastra wheel and has supported the programme since it’s inception.
The “Merito & Hill Family” scholarships are offered by Codi Merito, previous NZ representative BMX athlete and one of our Adastra alumni and Britt Hill. These scholarships are offered to 2 recipients who embody the values of Codi and Britt and show promise and drive in their endeavours.
Construction Advantage Limited is a Cambridge based construction company that delivers innovative construction projects, design and build, feasibility studies and management of commercial projects. The director and staff have a keen interest in sport and providing opportunity for a Cambridge recipient through their support of the Adastra programme.
BDO delivers leading accountancy, advisory, tax and assurance services to leading businesses and has offices nationwide. The Tauranga branch of BDO selects and supports a local recipient that aligns with the company values and brand.
Sponsored Scholarships are awarded after the standard application process (i.e. no further specific application is required).
The Sponsored Scholarships come with standard Adastra reporting requirements, plus further responsibilities to the sponsor, such as reasonable personal appearances and performance updates.
Sponsors
The Adastra Foundation acknowledges the support of:
Our Supporters
Our Sponsors
The Adastra Foundation acknowledges the support of:
🔊We are proud to announce our 2026 scholarship recipients!
As we move through the year we will introduce you to each recipient in more detail. We are excited to support these talented young people this year through funding, connection, workshops and education.
A HUGE thank you to
🏀 The Lion Foundation
🎵 Grassroots Trust
🏐 TECT
🏸 Craig’s Investment Partners
⛳️ BDO Tauranga
🚣 Acorn Foundation
🩰 Construction Advantage Limited
🏃🏽 Merito & Hill Family
🎷Callum and Lindy Malcolm ... See MoreSee Less
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🔊 New Trustees Annoucement
No better way to kick off 2026 than by introducing our new Adastra Trustees. We welcome Matt Bodman, Tina Harris-Ririnui and Tori Moorby as fantastic additions to our team!
🎵 Matt Bodman - Born and raised in Mt Maunganui, Matt is HOD of Music at Otūmoetai College and has a long successful history in music as a performer, composer and musical director. He is dedicated to encouraging young people to believe in themselves and pursue their goals.
📚 Tina Harris-Ririnui - An experienced leader in senior roles across sport, recreation and arts sectors, Tina brings strong commercial and strategic expertise. She is passionate about enabling rangatahi to thrive and committed to cultural responsiveness.
🪃Tori Moorby - Originally from Southland, Tori developed a passion for sport and the outdoors early in life before progressing to the highest level of international athletics. In addition to her athletic career she leads a sporting performance programme at St Peter’s Cambridge, where she mentors and develops young athletes to reach their full potential. ... See MoreSee Less
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Happy New Year ☺️
We are back and in full swing for 2026!! Recipients have been notified and we have some awesome new trustees on board. Keep an eye out for announcements coming soon. We can’t wait to work with our 2026 cohort of young people. Stay tuned 👀 ... See MoreSee Less
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THANKS A MILLION!!
As we wind up the scholarship year we thank our amazing sponsors for their support of the 2025 Adastra recipients and programme.
We hear fantastic success stories from our scholarship recipients and alumni and see the benefits that the funding has for them in their performance endeavours and personal growth.
Thank you to our dedicated trustees and the following wonderful partners
The Lion Foundation
Grassroots Trust
TECT @tectnz
Craig’s Investment Partners @craigsinvestmentpartners
BDO Tauranga @bdotauranga
Construction Advantage Ltd @construction_advantageltd
The Acorn Foundation @acornfoundationnz
Brian Perry Charitable Trust
Merito & Hill Families Codi Merito
Callum & Lindy Malcolm ... See MoreSee Less
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Meet Jemima! A talented rower from Tauranga. Starting in her first year at high school she went along with a friend to try it out 🚣🏼♀️
Jemima applied to the Adastra Foundation in search of support through learning more about physical care, diving deeper into the mental side of sport and building valuable connections. She loved the core values and that is was a sports orientated scholarship so she could spend a little less time working and more time studying and training.
If she wasn’t a rower, she would have continued to pursue competitive swimming but she has some cracking rowing highlights to share including; a silver medal at nationals, capsizing while in first place of an A final with 250m to go - ‘too good of a story not to be a highlight’ she says and her OG double partner who has shared all the highs and lows of rowing with her 👩🏼🤝👩🏽
We look forward to seeing what comes next for you Jemima. Welcome to the Adastra whanau ☺️ ... See MoreSee Less
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Meet Sophie! A very talented dancer from Tauranga. Getting into dance was seamless for Sophie, “Mum is a dance teacher, she took me along to a dance class hoping I would love it - and I did!” she says 🩰
Not only is she a ballet and contemporary dancer, Sophie is trained in tap dancing, loves musical theatre and singing - plus was the lead role in Matilda when she was at intermediate 🎤
Sophie is building an impressive dance resume having placings such as 2nd Place World of Dance, Studio Division 2024 (LA, USA) and 4th Place HHI World Championships 2025 (Arizona, USA) and applied to the Adastra Foundation to help achieve her dreams of becoming a professional dancer 🌍
When she’s not in the studio she spends a lot of time with her dance friends ‘we really are one big family’ she said. All the best for your big dance dreams Sophie. You are well on your way. Welcome to the Adastra whanau! ☺️ ... See MoreSee Less
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Meet Sylvester! A very talented musician from Tauranga. Getting into music very young he started learning to play violin, later getting into the trumpet and piano 🎶
Sylvester began as an orchestral musician playing in Orchestras, concert bands as well as solo work. “My Mum and Dad really encouraged me to play and enjoy music.” Consistency is a big challenge for Sylvester in terms of daily practice and consistency of playing. “Coordination for trumpet players can diminish quickly, meaning time off sets us back” he says 🎺
If he wasn’t a musician Sylvester would look at being an Air Traffic Controller believing it would be a good challenge for himself and if he’s not playing music he enjoys thrifting, reading and being out amongst people in town.
He has had some big music highlights including meeting his favourite musician Wynton Marsalis and performing with both the Roger Fox Big Band and Harrison Scholes Big Band. Sylvester is hoping the Adastra Foundation can help develop his personal skills to aid his performances even more.
We can’t wait to follow you through your music career Sylvester. Welcome to the Adastra whanau ☺️ ... See MoreSee Less
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Meet Travis! An aspiring rower from Whakatāne. He first tried rowing after supporting his sister through training and regattas and really enjoyed it 🚣
After some valuable experience at Maddi cup this year Travis continues working towards is goals of representing New Zealand, commenting that he really enjoyed competing at that level and is determined to continue pushing forward. “Mindset plays a big role in the sport, I’m still learning about it and training to do better” he says.
Travis has accolades under his belt already, including an U16 double sculls Maddi gold medal paired with breaking a 20 year old record in that same race. If he’s not rowing you can find him spending time in the bush, biking or hanging out with friends.
All the best for what’s to come Travis. Welcome to the Adastra whanau! ☺️ ... See MoreSee Less
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Meet Elise, a talented dancer from Waikato. Starting at ballet when she was 3 years old, Elise has transitioned through multiple dance genres now including jazz, contemporary hip hop and lyrical. Using all of her experience and training she loves to choreograph her own solo performances sharing her stories helping her connect to the dance and express how she is feeling 🩰
In the next 5 years Elise is looking to get experience dancing overseas with international choreographers, celebrity artists and maybe even choreograph her own dance to perform in a show. With big dreams Elise is very passionate about dance, training a lot and getting great results! 💃
Dance isn’t without its challenges. A bit shift Elise had made is changing studios, facing the tough task of leaving friends and readjusting to a new space. This reignited her passion and has helped her grow as a dancer. All the best with your future endeavours Elise! Welcome to the Adastra whanau ☺️ ... See MoreSee Less
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