This year, at AA Insurance, our people completed 649 volunteering hours in local communities across New Zealand. Volunteering is one of the many things we do to help strengthen the long-term resilience of our communities. Here are a few other ways we’ve been supporting the things you care about.
Helping Kiwi kids stay warm over winter with Variety
We have partnered with Variety – the Children’s Charity since 2021 to help more children and young people enjoy a happy, healthy childhood. It’s estimated that one-in-10 children in our poorest communities don’t have a bed to sleep in. As the Lead Partner of Variety’s Beds for Kids Programme, we helped raise awareness of bed poverty in New Zealand and supported Variety’s fundraising efforts to provide beds and bedding for our country’s tamariki. In the last 12 months we provided Variety with funding for 100 beds and encouraged contributions to their Winter Appeal.
Doing something big for our littlest athletes
Our Big Little Sponsorship celebrates our partnership with Eden Park by championing grassroots sport in schools and giving something back to the communities around us. This year, we received over 5,500 nominations from 1,102 schools – that’s 56% of schools in New Zealand! Our winners were Kawerau South School in the North Island and Birchwood School in South Island, who each received a $10,000 sports grant. We also awarded a second prize of $2,000 and a third prize of $1,000 to schools in each island. Since we launched the Big Little Sponsorship in 2018, we’ve received over 15,900 nominations and gifted $98,000 to support grassroots sports in primary schools.
Giving back with AA Insurance’s Give Back Shack
We introduced the Give Back Shack last year to host deserving community organisations, charities and local groups in the iconic shack of our national stadium, Eden Park. Over the last 12 months, 19 groups have been hosted in the Give Back Shack, including customers, SENZ, the Student Volunteer Army, and graduates of our Sponsored Motor Apprentice Scheme.
Putting written off cars to good use with UFBA
Together with our partner Turners, we donated 24 vehicles that couldn’t be repaired following a motor claim to the United Fire Brigade Association’s (UFBA) annual Road Crash Rescue Challenge. The donation helped the UFBA continue to support the essential work volunteer firefighters do to help our communities prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies. UFBA members used the vehicles to practice emergency rescue and medical responses to motor crashes.
Supporting the Student Volunteer Army (SVA)
Established in 2010, the Student Volunteer Army (SVA) has mobilised tens of thousands of student volunteers in local communities. Since the inception of the SVA Service Award in 2019, SVA students have logged more than 2 million volunteering hours, with around 47,000 active students in 2024. This year we launched a new social impact partnership with SVA, creating an opportunity to engage locally and support communities all year round, not just after a major event.
We’re committed to meeting the needs of today, while ensuring we can be here for our people, customers and communities well into the future. You can find out more about the progress we’re making on our sustainability journey on our website.