The Rambo Charitable Trust uses the power of sport to make a difference in the community, using high profile athletes from the sport of basketball as positive role models and contemporary messengers to youth and families through a range of community outreach programmes.  Internationally, basketball has been used to change the lives of young people, and is proving to have a powerful impact in Canterbury.

The programmes of The Rambo Charitable Trust use NBL players from the Canterbury Rams team to benefit the community and also use Tall Black players and coaches at every opportunity.  The athletes involved in our community outreach programme are hand picked for their skills in working with children and youth as well as their suitability as role models.

The Trust is named after Rambo the Ram. The Rambo Charitable Trust is a separate entity from the Canterbury Rams organisation.  The Rambo Charitable Trust operates innovative programmes with important outcomes for children, their families, schools, and community organisations that improve the welfare of Cantabrians, with an emphasis on communities in need in Christchurch, but the potential of the work of the Trust could extend to the National level.

The Trust is managed by Dr Leslie Ann Watson, a former Senior Lecturer in Community Recreation Management at Lincoln University.

There are eight programmes currently associated with the Trust, with the potential for more in coming years:

• Rams Night Out

• School and Community Fundraising Programme

• Community Outreach

• RAMbassadors

• International Sport Management Internship Programme

• Basketball Camps

• Jr Rams Programme

• Business and Sport Management Society (based at University of Canterbury)

• Player Scholarship Abroad Programme

The Rambo Charitable Trust would not be possible without the support of: The Community Trust; The Scottwood Group, especially the following loyal watering holes: Avonhead Tavern (120 Whithells Rd, Avonhead), Fitzgerald Arms (331 Cashel St), Schroeder’s Tavern (680 Barbadoes St); Pub Charity Inc, The Lion Foundation, The Canterbury Foundation, especially the Vic & Whale (cnr Armagh & Colombo); Community Grants Foundation Inc; Christchurch City Council; QE II Park; Community Organisation Grants Scheme (Department of Internal Affairs); Scenic Circle Hotels.