BP donates more than $200,000 to Surf Life Saving New Zealand through Every Litre Counts initiative

BP today announced $218,401 has been raised for Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) thanks to its month-long Every Litre Counts campaign that ended on Sunday 17 February.

The amount was raised by Kiwis fuelling up and donating in-store at BP retail sites across the country during the four weeks – for every litre of fuel sold at any BP retail site nationwide, BP made a donation to the charity. The Every Litre Counts initiative is in addition to BP’s regular annual donation to SLSNZ.

BP New Zealand’s Managing Director, Debi Boffa, says, “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 the charity stay afloat amidst the numerous funding challenges it faces annually to meet a need of $10 million a year.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand CEO, Paul Dalton, says, “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 says, “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 SLSC, Taranaki
• Kare Kare SLSC, West Auckland
• Maranui SLSC, Wellington
• New Plymouth Old Boys SLSC, Taranaki
• Otaki SLSC, Kapiti Coast
• Pauanui SLSC, Coromandel
• Piha SLSC, West Auckland
• Riversdale SLSC, Wairarapa
• St Clair SLSC, Otago
• United North Piha SLSC, West Auckland
• Waihi Beach LS, Bay of Plenty / Coromandel
• Waikuku Beach SLSC, Canterbury
• Waipu Cove SLSC, Northland
• Warrington SLSC, Otago
• Whangamata SLSC, Coromandel
• Whanganui SLSC, Manawatu
• Whiritoa LS, 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.

Watch all the videos here on this SLSNZ playlist.

For more information, please contact:

Alana McIsaac, Media & Communications Manager
Phone 027 515 7157
Email media@surflifesaving.org.nz