Paralympics New Zealand receives important award

Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) and its commercial partners ACC, Cadbury and Sanford took top honours in the commercial partnership category at the 2017 New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards on 30 May, the country’s most prestigious sports industry awards.

The purpose of the ‘Commercial Partnerships Award’ is to identify, celebrate, promote and encourage exceptional partnering of a sport and recreation organisation with a commercial organisation.

The win recognises the success of the now multi-award winning PNZ Spirit of Gold® Initiative over the past year. Specifically, the contribution that PNZ’s commercial partners ACC, Cadbury and Sanford have made in assisting PNZ to raise awareness of Para sport and positively influence community perceptions around disability.

“I would like to congratulate our partners ACC, Cadbury and Sanford. Their vision and support enabled Paralympics New Zealand and New Zealand Para athletes to achieve success at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games,” said PNZ Chief Executive Officer Fiona Allan.

“I wish to thank Sport New Zealand for having an award which celebrates and acknowledges the significant value that commercial partners bring to New Zealand sport.”

Sport New Zealand CEO Peter Miskimmin added: “Spirit of Gold went above and beyond a single commercial partnership – with the three partners (ACC, Cadbury and Sanford), Paralympics NZ raised the profile of the New Zealand Paralympic Team and built the support of a nation to help secure 21 medals in Rio and retain their place atop the per capita medal table.”

At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, New Zealand claimed 21 medals overall, including nine golds, finishing 13th on the medals table.

“The intention behind the partnership is to improve rehabilitation outcomes and well-being for ACC clients,” said ACC Chief Executive Scott Pickering. “The alignment of this with PNZ’s desire to help people with disabilities maximise their potential and promote social inclusion has led to a very successful couple of years.”

Sanford CEO Volker Kuntzsch explained the partnership “provides a way to promote internal employee engagement whilst reinforcing Sanford’s position as a caring, and sustainable organisation closely linked to communities across New Zealand.

“We are delighted to have extended our partnership with PNZ and are looking forward to continuing to provide our people with opportunities to learn from these excellent role-models whilst also helping them achieve their goals.”

Following her exceptional performance at Rio 2016, where she won three golds and two silvers, Sophie Pascoe and her coach Roly Crichton were named finalists of the ‘High Performance Campaign Award.’

Para Archery Committee Chairperson Carole Hicks also received a lifetime achievement recognising her long commitment to the sport.

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