Date: 14 May 2013
Assurity’s co-founder and General Manager (Auckland) Darren McTigue presented a cheque for $30,720.56 to Ursula Cranmer and Louise Alcock of The Angelman Network on 13 May following the extraordinary generosity of Assurity staff at a charity auction during their Annual Conference at Millbrook in mid-March.
During the Friday night auction, staff placed bids for more than 30 items or experiences – from wine to signed rugby shirts, fly fishing trips to stays at five-star hotels. An All Black match jersey worn by Jerry Collins raised over $2500.
The money raised will be used by The Angelman Network to fund research on Angelman Syndrome (AS) in NZ. The Network – a not-for-profit support group – was set up by parents of AS children in NZ. AS is a rare neuro-genetic condition that leaves sufferers unlikely to be able to talk and/or walk. All will be mentally impaired and often have severe seizures.
With only 54 known cases by the Network in NZ, the rarity of the condition means that very little money is committed to funding research.
“Angelman’s Syndrome is a very personal cause for us at Assurity” explains CEO Garth Hamilton. “Nadine Henderson, our People and Culture Advisor, has a beautiful two-year-old daughter who suffers from this devastating condition and we wanted to do our very best to support her and her family.
“Our Annual Conference is always a time for us to get together, work together and have some fun together and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do some real good together too.
“We are incredibly humbled by everyone’s generosity” he continues, “not only those individuals and companies who donated items for the charity auction, but all of our very special employees who dug so deep and made bid after bid for the amazing items on auction”.
Nadine says, “It was an incredible evening. We’re all completely overwhelmed by the amount raised and it will go a very long way to helping our research efforts on AS in NZ. A very big thank you to Garth and Darren McTigue and all of my amazing colleagues”.
Assurity’s Darren McTigue (right) and auction high bidder Richard Scott-Will-Harknett (left) presents a cheque for $30,720.56 to Ursula Cranmer and Louise Alcock.
A very big thank you to the following people and companies who so generously donated items for the auction: Jerry Collins, Liam Messam, Colin Meeds, Hosea Gear, Pio Terei, Jonny Moetara, Jo Trendle and Leigh Woodcock, Simon Beale, Haley Stockman, Kahu Tamatea, Lynn Spiers, Greg and Amanda Baines, Rebecca Methven-Climo and the Canterbury Crusaders, the Wellington Phoenix, the NZ Breakers, Vodafone Warriors, BNZ, The Village Goldsmith, Cafe L’Affare, Antipodes, Sky City Grand Hotel, The Lighthouse Cinema Pauatahanui, the Interislander, the Amora Hotel, CityLife, Centre City Wines and Spirits, NZ Office Supplies, Fly Fishing Taupo, Murdoch James Estate, the Paramount, Starbucks, Ecostore, Cityfitness and Millbrook Resort.
