The Sir Thomas & Lady Duncan Trust is a charitable trust based in the Rangitikei, New Zealand.
The Trust was established in 1946 by Sir Thomas and Lady Duncan in response to the polio epidemic in New Zealand at that time. Sir Thomas and Lady Duncan funded the investigation of treatment for polio and established a polio hospital in Silverstream Wellington (which was later relocated to Durie Hill, Wanganui). The
hospital was funded by “Otiwhiti”, a sheep station located at Otairi, Hunterville in the Rangitikei which was gifted to the Trust by Sir Thomas and Lady Duncan.
The Trust continues to support sufferers of polio but it also supports those with other neuro-muscular disorders, particularly children, and funds research into causes, cure and prevention of such disorders.
In particular, the Trust supported the formation of, and continues to assist the Duncan Foundation, which has established a number of clinics in New Zealand to assess and assist people who have or have had neurological conditions. These clinics are to guide rehabilitation and provide ongoing support.
A board of trustees, the majority of whom are direct descendants of Sir Thomas and Lady Duncan, administers the Trust.
The Sir Thomas & Lady Duncan
A sound mind in a sound
body, is a short, but full
description of a happy
state in this world.
John Locke (1693)
