Colin Russell
CPIT Foundation has appointed retired businessman Colin Russell to the newly created position of Patron.
In addition to his business and education commitments in the plumbing industry, Colin has been active in public life through a range of appointments and as an elected representative in local government (the Christchurch Drainage Board), education (the council of CPIT, of which he was deputy chairman and chairman for many years), and music. This work has led to three honours being bestowed on him, including an MBE in 1989 and an OMLJ in 2007. In 1983 he was an original settlor of the Polytechnic Foundation Trust.
In making the appointment, CPIT Foundation Chairman Barry Pett said that many charities throughout the world have created the position of patron in order to attract a person of considerable social or economic standing to act as figurehead for the organisation. The appointee is expected to enhance development and funding opportunities, give the organisation added status and show that its aims and objectives are laudable and hence worthy of widespread public support.
Colin Russell, the sole remaining original settlor of the Foundation, recently retired from the Foundation’s trust board after 25 years, bringing to 45 years his length of service to the Polytechnic.