Toyota Financial to sponsor lifesaving program

Surf clubs to receive 48 vehicles to boost their volunteers’ lifesaving efforts

Toyota Financial to sponsor lifesaving program

Insurance News

By Gabriel Olano

Toyota Financial Services has signed a vehicle sponsorship agreement with Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Surf Life Saving Northern Region.

According to a statement from Toyota Financial, the three-year, 48-car deal is valued at more than $380,000 a year and will establish one of the largest not-for-profit vehicle fleets in New Zealand.

The agreement will make Toyota Financial the exclusive vehicle sponsor for Surf Life Saving New Zealand and renews the existing sponsorship with Surf Life Saving Northern Region. Each organisation will receive 15 sponsored vehicles to support regional lifesaving delivery and community education programmes, while the Grassroots Trust and Toyota Financial Services will provide an additional 16 4WD first-response vehicles to 13 northern region clubs and three Bay of Plenty clubs.

Toyota Financial will also give preferential lease deals for lifesaving organisations nationwide.

Chris Stark, Toyota Financial Services marketing and insurance manager, said the decision to extend its existing Surf Life Saving Northern Region sponsorship to the entire country was “a no-brainer.”

“Surf lifesaving epitomises everything that is good about New Zealand communities,” he said. “Here are volunteers giving up their spare time and training hard to make their local beaches safe. They need vehicles to do their job and by providing them, we can help the movement make its limited funds stretch further.

“Our organisations have similar values around looking after the people we serve, and we wanted to give back to the communities that support us.”

“Our staff need access to high-quality, reliable transport in order to support our network of clubs, so we are delighted to have a fleet that is exclusively Toyota,” Surf Life Saving New Zealand CEO Paul Dalton said. “The regular giving programme is also a very exciting initiative and will be greatly welcomed by our clubs. As a network of volunteer-based charities, this kind of support from our commercial partners is really valuable and makes a real difference at the front-line.”

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