Youdrive chief executive, Kevin Wall spoke with Toni Street from TVOne’s Breakfast team about the Youdrive programme and what it’s offering young New Zealanders.

Youdrive is a secondary-school based, driver training programme that aims to improve road safety by developing higher order skills and knowledge in young drivers. With 15-24 year olds heavily over represented in New Zealand road accident statistics and a large number of secondary students leaving school without any form of drivers’ license, Kevin Wall saw an opportunity to work with schools to develop a programme that would deliver positive outcomes.

Edgewater College is the first school in New Zealand to offer Youdrive as part of their education curriculum. The programme is delivered on site at the school and is NZQA approved, which means students can achieve credits towards their NCEA level standard.

Click here to watch the full interview, or visit the Youdrive website to learn more about the programme.

What you might call the ‘forgotten best friends’ of Christchurch got a much needed earthquake recovery cheque today as seen on TV3 6PM news.

Tens of thousands of dollars have been given to Dog Watch to help it re-home abandoned earthquake pets.

One Labrador-Staffordshire cross called Chance was left abandoned and unwanted in February.

One hundred and fifty condemned dogs have been rescued from the pound by Dog Watch so far this year, double the normal number.

“We are struggling to the point that there are so many dogs out there that need help, we don’t have the space, we cannot take them,” says Dog Watch manager Pam Howard.

Keith Surgenor is helping out, adopting one dog, Lea.

“She has been abandoned and we don’t even know what she is really, but she is beautiful and she will go to a good home, and I’ll get a lot of pleasure out of her,” he says.

Also helping out is a nearby shopping mall, surprising Pam Howard with a cheque for $50,000.

“There are amazing stories of people out there who have been hurt by the earthquake, so we are really thrilled to be part of this and to be able to make a difference and help them,” says The Palms Shopping Centre manager Keryn Ward.

At nearby Freeville School there were more giveaways, free puffer jackets for the 300 pupils.

“On a day like today where we have got minus three degrees start to the day they certainly need them,” says principal John Leonard.

Fifteen thousand dollars raised in Sydney is helping the children out with the Macpac gifts.

The gift of giving and receiving is appreciated by everyone in Christchurch.

Thanks to Hamish Clark and TV3 News

23 May 2011

The receivers of the SCF Group have announced that GE Capital’s New Zealand Equipment Finance business has acquired over NZ$100 million of commercial loan book assets from Face Finance Limited, a subsidiary of South Canterbury Finance Limited.

Face Finance primarily focuses on ‘big ticket’ financing in the transport and infrastructure sectors. It has operated on a largely standalone basis from the rest of the SCF Group since establishment with a separate distribution network and customer relationships.

Receivers Kerryn Downey and William Black of McGrathNicol said that “the sale to GE Capital is a very pleasing outcome and represents a key milestone in the realisation of South Canterbury Finance’s loan book assets. We believe the acquisition by GE Capital will provide increased certainty for Face Finance’s customers.”

GE Capital was successful in its acquisition following a competitive sale process, with Deutsche Bank AG New Zealand branch acting as sale advisor to the receivers.

Media Contact:

Kate Alexander
Alexander Communications
T +64 9 524 4957
M +64 27 244 6094
E: kate@alexandercomms.co.nz

About McGrathNicol
McGrathNicol is an independent advisory firm specialising in corporate advisory, forensic, transaction services and corporate recovery. It is a market leader in Australia and New Zealand, with more than 300 people across the region, including more than 30 partners.

About Face Finance
Face Finance Limited (In Receivership), a subsidiary of South Canterbury Finance Limited (In Receivership), is a Plant and Equipment Finance specialist offering financial solutions to a variety of New Zealand business sectors, including transport, aviation, civil and agricultural contracting, printing, forestry, and manufacturing.

At a time when the nation’s attention is focused on recreating the built environment of our second-largest city, a new enterprise is launching with two significant and potentially contributory new initiatives: New Zealand’s first nationwide accessibility programme, Be. Accessible, and the first nationwide disability leadership programme of its kind, Be. Leadership.

At its launch event at the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Friday 6 May, Be. Institute will formally present the two programmes and outline the vision for what the institute, through its initiatives and partnerships, can do to foster accessibility and enable a 100% accessible society for all New Zealanders.

The mission is social change: to improve the accessibility of the physical environment, enable better access to information, promote the inclusion and leadership of disabled people in employment and the community, and change social attitudes and behaviours.

In many respects, the timing of the launch is optimal. One Be. Institute project, the Be. Test Match, will be rolled out through the Be. Accreditation programme (part of Be. Accessible) to the 12 New Zealand cities hosting Rugby World Cup 2011.

In the first phase, the Be. Assessors will visit key locations in each of the 12 cities and assess stadia, fan zones, i-SITES and other relevant locations such as hotels.

However, the organization’s aims for its programmes reach beyond this sporting event. By the end of May, Be. Accessible will have trained 40 Be. Assessors, who will be equipped with the tools and know-how to perform holistic assessments of the aforementioned sites, and thousands of others over time.

They will be able to cover the whole accessibility journey, asking questions like: how accessible is the organisation’s website?; what is the level of customer service?; how accessible is the building entrance, interior and products?; and are the business / organization’s marketing materials accessible to all people?

Be. Institute is led by chief executive Minnie Baragwanath, who before founding Be. Institute worked for 10 years in the disability sector, advising to the former Auckland City Council. She has brought together the Auckland Council, the Auckland University of Technology and the Auckland District Health Board to be founding partners of the Be. Institute.

Since it was formed in early 2011, Be. Institute has developed a working partnership with the Ministry of Social Development, and MP Tariana Turia will be attending the launch event, along with 200 other VIPs and contributors.

Ms Baragwanath says, “In launching the Be. Institute we are mindful of the importance of recognizing what is already being done. We have made great progress as a nation – however, there is more we need to do to create a 100% accessible country. New Zealanders are by nature inclusive and socially aware, and we are seeking to build on this through specific practices in our two programmes. Our view is that if we get it right for disabled people, we get it right for all people.”

Be. Accessible involves an accreditation framework and a communications campaign to inspire and enable a 100% accessible society. Be. Leadership, the first leadership programme of its kind in New Zealand, invites 20 emerging leaders to participate in a 10-month journey to become the best leader they can be.

Any business can book an accessibility assessment from a Be. Assessor and learn how they can change their practices or structure to make their organization more accessible. They need not be affiliated with RWC 2011 to do this.

Fact Sheet

• The Be. Institute launch event:
  • Date: Friday 6 May 2011
  • Time: 7pm – 10pm
  • Venue: Auckland War Memorial Museum
  • Dress: Glamorous and authentic
• The Be. Institute was founded in 2011 through a partnership between the Auckland Council, the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the Auckland District Health Board;
• It is a social enterprise with the purpose of inspiring and enabling accessibility through innovation and leadership;
• The problem New Zealand faces is that 20% of the population doesn’t get full access to society, and even if employment is possible, people with disabilities earn less on average that those without;
• Founding trustees of the Be. Institute include John Allen (CEO of MFAT and Chair of the Employers Disability Network) and Mark Bagshaw, and the current chief executive is Minnie Baragwanath;
• The Institute’s two initiatives are Be. Accessible and Be. Leadership, which are designed to collectively achieve 100% accessibility for all New Zealanders;
• There are three interdependent pillars – social, physical and personal – necessary for a truly accessible society;
• The Be. Institute’s philosophy is around inclusion – everyone is welcome to participate – and the principle that in order to create a world in which we can all Be., we need to think about our expectations of disabled people, and consider the value of disabled people as leaders and not just recipients of charity;
• The vision and mission of Be. – can we talk about the importance of the Be. Accessble programme.
• One of the first social change programmes to inspire business, community, govt to recognise that we all play a part in creating an accessible world;
• The Be. Institute has coined a new term – the ‘Access Customer’ – which may include any of the following:
  • An older person (the baby- boomer)
  • A parent pushing a stroller
  • Someone with a hearing or vision impairment
  • A person with a mental health impairment
  • A person who uses a wheelchair
• Launch attendee Tariana Turia is co-leader of the Maori Party and the member for Te tai Hauauru, Minister for Disability Issues and the Community and Voluntary Sectors, and Associate Minister of Social Development and Health;
• Launch attendee Rodney Hide is leader of the Act Party and the member for Epsom, Minister of Local Government and Regulatory Reform, and Associate Minister of Education;
• Between 660,000 and 730,000 people in New Zealand have a disability, and a total of 20% of Kiwis report a disability;
• Half of people 65+ have a disability, and by 2030 25% of Kiwis will be aged 65+;
• 186,340 people with a disability could be working;
• The limited accessibility for people with a disability means that 20% of Kiwis are excluded from fully participating in everyday activities;
• With improved accessibility, businesses could increase by 20% more customers;
• Sign Language is the third official language of New Zealand;
• The welfare cost is $2.1 billion per annum and the opportunity cost an estimated $11.7 billion per annum;
• El Du Pont de Nemours & Co conducted a study of 1,000 workers with disabilities, with results showing:
  • 81% of workers with disabilities rated better than average in job performance;
  • 86% of workers with disabilities rated above average in attendance;
  • 98% of workers with disabilities rated average or better than average in safety with;
  • No increase in compensation costs.

Sources:

Statistics New Zealand, 2006
Office for Disability, 2008

Be.ready – The toolkit for business
Innov8 Consulting Group Disability Statistics Chart

For further information:

Dwayne Alexander

Alexander Communications

+64 (0)21 324463

dwayne@alexandercomms.co.nz

Campaign Overview

Challenge Trust is one of many New Zealand charitable trusts invested in paving the way for a brighter future and supporting those in need. A unique not-for-profit organization, Challenge Trust is a recovery-services specialist group which has grown from its initial sole facility to over 20 residential homes providing care to people with a variety of needs relating to addiction, mental illness, physical disability and rehabilitation, intellectual disability, and eating disorders.

Challenge Trust appointed Alexander Communications to assist with raising its profile as a leading recovery services provider and presenting to the public its new initiatives, service centres and programmes.

The AC team has been fortunate to work with CEO Clive Plucknett and his dedicated team at Challenge Trust. The team’s passion and commitment to their work and the people they help was evident from the outset, and this message is reflected in our work.

In September 2010, Challenge Trust and the Auckland DHBs launched Thrive, a much-needed service for the treatment of eating disorders in the upper North Island. The first of its kind in the region, Thrive’s opening in two buildings in Parnell, Auckland was attended by guests including health professionals, DHB board members and select media.

Results
For the official opening and launch of Thrive, our brief was to raise awareness about the centre and bring the service into the public eye.

Tact and sensitivity was crucial in our approach to a widely misunderstood issue. AC worked closely with the Ministry of Health and Challenge Trust to introduce key print and broadcast media to Thrive by arranging private tours of the facility and one-on-one interviews with Clive Plucknett.

AC secured feature stories on TV One News, TV3 News, and Radio New Zealand.

Coverage was also seen in national and community newspapers and in online media, including the Sunday Star Times, New Zealand Herald, Gisborne Herald and Eastern Courier.

The launch of Thrive was a great success, with child advocate Christine Rankin accepting the invitation to officially open the centre. The achievement by Challenge Trust of a substantial brief in a short timeframe was a proud moment for the Challenge Trust team and the many families involved.

The much-needed facility was well received by the community, and several local schools demonstrated support by responding generously to AC’s request for inspirational artwork for permanent display at Thrive. Coverage regarding this school support was seen in Education Today, www.times.co.nz, www.scoop.co.nz and www.infonews.co.nz

Additionally, AC recently secured the cover-page story ‘What business owners can learn from NFPs’ in NZ Business Magazine. Clive Plucknett was the subject of the cover story by Ruth Le Pla.

An inspirational leader with considerable experience across many industries (including a previous career with the NZ Police), Clive says, “The most valuable asset you have is self knowledge,” and advises leaders to figure out when they need to pull in someone else. “A lot of people are so busy being busy that they don’t step back and look around.”

Challenge Trust was profiled for a second time on the evening news, TV3 6PM, when Clive Plucknett was featured as an expert in the area of mental health and recovery. Appearing on two consecutive nights over a weekend, the two stories reinforced Challenge Trust as a leading recovery services and mental health organisation, with direct quotes from Clive.

Clive Plucknett has appeared extensively in the media on other occasions, and was quoted in the National Business Review, in ‘Depression the Silent Epidemic for Executives’. This article has been a valuable profile piece and has generated significant response from other executives direct to Clive.

Earlier in 2010, Clive appeared on TVNZ’s NZI Business with Corin Dann to discuss the topic of mental health treatment for high-level executives. His appearance reinforced the message of Challenge Trust’s leadership in this area of health, and highlighted the programmes available to assist those with depression.

To find out more about Challenge Trust and the services they offer, visit www.challenge.co.nz