The Bashford-Nicholls Trust scholarships are managed by The Bishop's Action Foundation. One scholarship round is provided each year supporting undergraduate and post-graduate students undertaking study focused on agriculture and veterinary science at a recognised New Zealand tertiary institution. In 2022 the Bashford-Nicholls trust has awarded 35 new scholarships with a combined...
In 2019 the Farm Next Door project was awarded the inaugural $100,000 PIVOT Award for a research project that set out to explore how to expand community centred agriculture. The project was delayed by Covid-19 but recently completed its research and created a website to showcase its findings and continue to...
Continuing to build on the research seeking to develop a current picture of the lived reality of rural New Zealand catalysed by The Bishop's Action Foundation, Dr Ann Pomeroy has just published an article profiling inequality within rural communities. The article is a preliminary exploration of class divisions in rural New...
As part of our exploration of spirituality and wellbeing we continue to engage with research associated with aspects of this space. Dr Richard Egan from the University of Otago, Dunedin School of Medicine is a director of the Cancer Society Research Collaboration and co-director of the Social and Behavioural Research Unit....
This research was originally conducted in 2013 for the Bishop’s Action Foundation (BAF) through the Centre for Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago. In the years since then it has been used to inform and guide BAF strategy and policy through evidence-based analysis. The research was refreshed and updated...
As a catalyst for change The Bishop's Action Foundation often creates, leads or supports collaborative responses. In this action research paper we have explored the themes, learnings and opportunities that this experience has provided. In addition, we have brought together existing models of collaboration to act as comparative guidelines. We hope...
We’ve been working with a range of partners to better understand the socio-economic, cultural, environmental and spiritual issues that impact the wellbeing of rural communities. Our call to research began when we realised there was little current information or social research on rural New Zealand over the past two decades that...
We are part of a growing movement exploring the concept of spirituality, its relevance to current society and its potential impact on well-being. Existing research suggests that spirituality has a positive impact on other aspects of health and well-being, this includes our own research into spirituality and older-people which can be...
Poverty has been an intractable issue in Aotearoa New Zealand throughout this century, particularly for families/whanau with children. The tentacles of poverty spread into all aspects of daily life. While recent poverty research in Aotearoa New Zealand has a predominantly urban lens, this study focuses on living rurally while being...
In 2016 BAF partnered with the Centre for Sustainability: Agriculture, Food, Energy and Environment at the University of Otago to begin research unpacking the lived experience of rural communities. Our research was led by Dr Ann Pomeroy and began with an exploration of Taranaki communities before expanding to compare these...