AusLeisure

Oil giant BP has revealed that it has donated more than $200,000 to Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) through the Every Litre Counts initiative.

The campaign, which ended on Sunday 17th February, saw $218,401 raised as a result of New Zealanders fuelling up and donating in-store at BP retail sites across the country during the four weeks.

In addition to BP’s regular annual donation to SLSNZ, for every litre of fuel sold at any BP retail site nationwide, BP made a donation to the charity.

BP New Zealand’s Managing Director, Debi Boffa, advised “we’re absolutely thrilled that, for a second year running, thousands of New Zealanders have got behind us and helped drive donations to such an important organisation.”

The donations will go towards helping SLSNZ stay afloat amid the numerous funding challenges it faces annually to meet a need of $10 million a year.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand Chief Executive, Paul Dalton welcomed the funding, commenting “we were delighted when BP told us that they were going to run Every Litre Counts again. With a couple more months of swimming and patrolling our beaches left followed by winter training for our 5,000 lifeguards, the donation will go a considerable way towards fulfilling our funding needs and keeping New Zealand beaches safe.”

As part of this year’s Every Litre Counts initiative, SLSNZ’s 74 clubs were challenged to create a safety video for the chance to win one of 20 x $2,500 prizes to use directly for their club from the $218,401 raised through Every Litre Counts. Seventeen individual clubs from across the country were awarded the prizes with two of these clubs winning multiple prizes for the videos they submitted.

Dalton added “it was fantastic to see the clubs get behind this campaign, acknowledging and promoting BP’s support of SLSNZ as well as creating engaging and essential safety message videos for the public during summer.

“To every person who fuelled up at BP during the donation period, we want you to know that your support means a great deal to us and has a tangible result in saving lives and keeping Kiwis safe.”

The winning clubs as judged by BP and SLSNZ are: East End Surf Life Saving (SLS) Club, New Plymouth Karekare SLS Club, West Auckland Maranui SLS Club, Wellington New Plymouth Old Boys SLS Club, New Plymouth Otaki SLS Club, Kapiti Coast Pauanui SLS Club, Coromandel Piha SLS Club, West Auckland Riversdale SLS Club, Wairarapa St. Clair SLS Club, Otago United North Piha SLS Club, West Auckland Waihi SLS Club, Hauraki Waikuku Beach SLS Club, Canterbury Waipu Cover SLS Club, Northland Warrington SLS Club, Otago Whangamata SLS Club, Coromandel Whanganui SLS Club, Manawatu Whiritoa SLS Club, Coromandel Every Litre Counts was first introduced in 2018 to mark 50 years since BP began its support of SLSNZ in 1968, believed to be New Zealand’s longest unbroken corporate partnership.

In addition to the $218,401 raised through Every Litre Counts, BP’s partnership with SLSNZ includes an annual donation, an annual contribution of fuel for every Surf Life Saving Clubs around the country, and a new Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) donated to one club each year.

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