We are a New Zealand business
Our philosophy is to ‘be the neighbour you’d want to have’. To us, this means respecting the rights of others, ensuring the safe and best practice operation of our sites, and making a positive contribution to the communities we call home.
Community partnerships
We're part of the fabric of diverse communities across New Zealand, so we're involved in local things that matter. We like to understand the nitty gritty of what they are all about to help us deliver their needs and aspirations. We are all about creating meaningful partnerships for the future. It’s not only rewarding, it’s vital to the ongoing success of our business. And because we're there for the long term, we make multi-year commitments.
Women's Refuge
At Contact we believe it’s good to be home and that our homes should be warm, connected and most importantly, safe. We also know that unfortunately this is not the reality for every Kiwi family.
We’ve been working with the National Collective of Women’s Refuges since 2020 on several initiatives, then in 2022 we became a proud partner. It’s a privilege to support the vital work they do across Aotearoa New Zealand helping women and children who are experiencing family violence.
Find out more about how our support for Women’s Refuge is making a difference and how you can help.
SwimWell Taupō
As a proud member of the Taupō community for decades, we decided to ask how we could best provide support. The community told us they were concerned about keeping our tamariki (children) safe in our moana (lake) and awa (rivers). As a result, SwimWell Taupō launched in 2010.
The programme provides free swimming and water safety lessons to around 3,500 primary students in Taupō, Turangi, Mangakino, Whakamaru each year. To date, we’ve supported over 300,000 swimming lessons for over 40,000 tamariki.
Alexandra Blossom Festival
Contact has been a major sponsor of the colourful Alexandra Blossom Festival since 2004. In 2008 we became Principal Partner of the Festival and Grand Procession, a street parade of locally built floats, traditionally covered with thousands of carefully applied individual blossoms. This family-friendly event is held in Alexandra and is now over 65 years old, having started in 1957 just after the commissioning of the Roxburgh Power Station.
Greening Taupō and Kids Greening Taupō
Greening Taupō, a conservation group which has planted over 200,000 native trees with the support of the community, has improved the environment for people and wildlife. In 2013 we provided 3000 seedlings to be planted by locals which kicked off the Greening Taupō annual community planting days. It also marked the start of our partnership.
Kids Greening Taupō is an education and environment programme which links local Taupō schools and Greening Taupō, encouraging students to drive projects which increase biodiversity and solve environmental problems. The organisation works with every school in Taupō, as well as many early childhood education centres, providing hands-on experience in conservation for young people. Its resources and advice are used by schools across the country, and it has become a model of student leadership.
Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre
We are proud to support the release of karearea (NZ Falcon) on Tuwharetoa iwi land, in Taupō. We have released six karearea so far and aim to release a total of 15 birds.
Kārearea are a threatened species, with less than 10,000 remaining in the wild. 75% of juveniles die in their first year, many from starvation. Our sponsorship covers equipment, travel, food costs, feed requirements, and volunteer monitoring to support the chicks in their first few months of life.
We are thrilled to see these beautiful native birds soaring over Tauhara maunga once again.
Lake Dunstan
Lake Dunstan is a popular spot with boaties, water-skiers, fishers, paragliders, and rowers. After a suggestion from locals wanting up-to-date information about weather and conditions on the lake, we installed a webcam at the top of Clyde Dam.
The webcam provides a panoramic view over the lake updated every 15 minutes, ensuring an accurate take on current conditions. Click here to view the webcam.
Kawarau Arm Community Project
In 2023 we began our collaboration with the community to co-design improvements to the Old Cromwell area. This was part of Contact’s revised 2019 - 2024 landscape and visual amenity management plan (LVAMP) for the Kawarau Arm of Lake Dunstan.
Check out this link to learn more about the project and view concept plans.
Kiwi Contact
New Zealand is the only place on earth that kiwi call home, so we’re pleased to support efforts to conserve this precious taonga.
Kiwi Contact is a partnership between Save the Kiwi, Contact, and Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary. It is run in conjunction with Kids Greening Taupō with support from the Department of Conservation.
Through Kiwi Contact, school students in the Taupō District get hands-on learning about kiwi conservation. They tour the kiwi creche, part of the Gallagher Kiwi Burrow which is housed behind the predator proof fence in the Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary.
Conservation experts from Save the Kiwi inspire students about the importance of kiwi to the natural environment and its cultural significance to Aotearoa. In a unique experience, students witness firsthand the care of kiwi eggs and chicks.
Taranaki Kiwi Trust
Contact has worked with the Taranaki Kiwi Trust since 2020, when we sponsored Koko – a resident kiwi on Taranaki Maunga. In 2022, we extended that support into a three-year sponsorship of the Trust to undertake education and advocacy programmes. In 2023 the Trust delivered 58 training, education and advocacy events with schools, churches, businesses, clubs and organisations across the region.
The Taranaki Kiwi Trust is dedicated to protecting and preserving the Western Brown Kiwi population through Taranaki. The Trust is engaged with pest control on public and private land, egg lifts, releasing kiwi, kiwi monitoring and surveying. It provides protection for kiwi on private properties in Taranaki through predator trapping.
