Archive for the ‘Community’ Category

Ray White Invercargill has relocated to new premises on Dee Street, which is the main road in Invercargill. After 10 years in the location they commenced their business at, Brendan Mason, owner of Ray White Invercargill, said the move to the new office was a definite line for his company given the growth they have achieved during that period of time.  He went on to say that the new office represents a new era for the company and that he believed they are now well positioned to be the market leader throughout the region.

The profile of the Dee Street location and the external Ray White livery give the office a highly visual presence. The office is divided into a number of areas and each of the divisions and sales team have their own offices.

Carey Smith, Chief Executive of Ray White New Zealand, said “The new office represents an investment by Brendan to ensure the future of his business. The location and the internal and external fit-out is of the highest quality and this will give both the team members and the community confidence when dealing with Ray White.”

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Ray White is proud to continue their sponsorship of the Ronald McDonald House Auckland Business Club for the third year.  Every year over 10,000 New Zealander’s need to call Ronald McDonald House Auckland their home away from home.  Families from all over New Zealand with ill children who may require lifesaving treatment are provided with shelter and support by Ronald McDonald House Auckland.   The House and the Family Room is run by the RMH Auckland Trust, which is a 100% community charitable trust.

Wayne Howett, CEO of Ronald McDonald House Auckland, said that “It is great to have Ray White back on board through our Business Club.  The ongoing commitment and the financial support are always needed to support our families through their time of need.”

Carey Smith, Chief Executive of Ray White New Zealand, said “Renewing our commitment to Ronald McDonald House Auckland allows our company to play an active role in the community by ensuring families who most need support are able to get it with the help of New Zealand businesses such as ours.”

Ronald McDonald House Auckland began in 1994 with a 10 bedroom house.  In 1997, 2003 and 2006 the House undertook extensive renovations to care for up to 77 families every night.  The latest addition to Ronald McDonald House Auckland has been the new building purchased late in 2010 on Grafton Road which will become a second home for families needing to stay with their children in Auckland.

For further information on Ronald McDonald House Auckland please click here.

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There was a well-deserved pat on the back for Billy Kerrisk owner of Ray White Golden Bay at Rural Women New Zealand’s (RWNZ) national conference in Auckland recently.

RWNZ gained recent recognition at the Fundraising Excellence Awards at Parliament for the runaway success of its Let’s Get Plastered for Breast Cancer campaign over the last year. Billy got the whole thing going two years ago when she convinced over 100 Golden Bay women to take casts of their breasts and exhibit them in The White Room gallery at LolloKiki in Commercial Street.

The following year, RWNZ asked Billy to take over the innovative campaign and took it to the nation via some 20 branches. Over 1,600 women around the country ended up plastering themselves for the breast cancer cause, raising $16,000 in the process. When the big cheque was handed over at the conference to Breast Cancer Foundation chief executive Van Henderson, Billy was asked to get up and speak. She used the opportunity to tell the delegates about her 49-year-old best friend Jennie Heasman of Tukurua, whose death from breast cancer in 2004 ultimately inspired her to do something about promoting breast health awareness. Then Billy sang to the conference her “Jennie song”, which she wrote after her friend had died and sang at her funeral. “I saw a few tears out there at the conference as I was singing it. Breast cancer affects too many women.”

However, it was soon Billy’s turn to be overwhelmed as she received a well-deserved avalanche of accolades and applause from NZ Breast Cancer Foundation (NZBCF) executives and Rural Women alike for her innovative leadership. All the money raised from the national Let’s Get Plastered campaign will now go towards the research being undertaken by associate professor Susan Dovey of the University of Otago, who will compare breast cancer outcomes for rural women to those living in urban areas. “We are delighted that the funds our members raised for breast cancer will go back into rural health research,” said RWNZ national president Liz Evans. She also used the occasion to announce that Rural Women will continue to promote breast health awareness and raise funds for NZBCF by selling breast cast kits this year for “Mammary Memories”, which encourages women about to have a mastectomy to cast their breasts prior to surgery.
Billy says the whole thing for her has been about getting the message out there.

“Let’s Get Plastered for Breast Cancer caught the attention of women around New Zealand and encouraged them to become practically involved. Now it looks set to go to Australia too, with the South Pacific chapter of Associated Country Women of the World asking if they can promote the concept there. The more the merrier I say!”
Gerard Hindmarsh

The Goodwin Realty Group are proud to present edition 4 of the Community Spirit magazine, which features a reflection on Christmas 2010 and upcoming events, including a family carnival day and the SPCA adopt-a-thon. The magazine is a reflection of the high community involvement that Goodwin Realty continues to sponsor through their Community Spirit programme.

In her editorial message, General Manager of the Goodwin Realty Group, Catherine Goodwin, writes about the Pay It Forward movement, which is centred on doing favours for other people without the expectation of it being paid back.  This is based on a real life reaction to the release of Catherine Ryan-Hydes novel of the same name.  Catherine goes on to write about the purpose of the Community Spirit magazine and the local family events programme being modelled on the Pay It Forward concept.

The Community Spirit programme has a number of partners and for further information or for inclusion of events, please contact Catherine Goodwin at catherine.goodwin@raywhite.com.

To read the latest edition of Community Spirit please click here

The Goodwin Realty Group is proud to present their Community Spirit Spring-Christmas 2010 edition.

Goodwin Realty Group first launched their Community Spirit Magazine and hosted Community Spirit’s inaugural Family Event in April 2010. As a business they have a passion to see success delivered in a tangible value to their community and its people. A passion shared by Community Spirit’s Principal Partners, who include Telstra Clear, Genesis Energy, Dulux, and the Goodwin Realty Group.

The latest edition of Community Spirit features information regarding the upcoming Carols by Candlelight which is to be held on Sunday 28^th November from 6:30pm at the Mt Albert Community Hall.

Also the Community Spirit magazine introduces the Christmas Lights competition, with all donations being given to the local plunket.  You can register on the website www.communityspirit.co.nz

Please visit the website for the latest  latest Community Spirit magazine or contact Catherine Goodwin at Goodwin Realty Group at email catherine.goodwin@raywhite.com

Premier salesperson Jodi Douglas from the Manurewa office is creating awareness for breast cancer in her quest to run the New York City Marathon on 7 November 2010.  Jodi has been training for the last six months in a continued program that has seen her running individual distances of up to 30 kilometres a week and having a weekly regime which has seen her dedicate 25 hours per week to achieve the level of fitness required to run in the marathon.

Her sponsors have been numerous and have assisted Jodi in being able to travel to New York; but her main aim is to raise funds for the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation.  Jodi said that she has been overwhelmed by the positive response from the public in campaigning for the early detection of breast cancer.  She said that “People have been very open to discussing with me the early detection programme and also many personal stories of family and friends who have been in some way associated with breast cancer.”

The statistics speak louder than words, with one in nine New Zealand women being diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.  Breast cancer is something that does not discriminate against age or race; it is unfortunately something that many women will live with during their lives.

Please see the information that Jodi has supplied to Ray White regarding the support of her New York City Marathon run and which goes into detail of other activities and sponsors who are associated with her fundraising for the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation.

The team from Ray White Kingsland, led by Chris and Lesley Hawes, held their mid winter Christmas function at the Rocky Nook Bowling Club at Fowlds Park in Auckland.  Over 150 of Ray White Kingsland’s past and present clients attended and were given a huge ‘thank you’ by the Ray White team at this annual event. As part of the evening there were popular acts which kept both children and adults entertained throughout the night. 

In her speech Lesley Hawes, one of the principals of the office, commented on the wonderful support their business had received from the local community.  She went on to say the office in Kingsland was in its fifth year and had continued to build the business to becoming a market leader.  The family values of the business held it in good stead and she said that the business would not be in the position it is today without all her loyal clients and friends.  

During the evening there was a draw for a trip for two to see the musical Hairspray at the Melbourne Princess Theatre with two nights’ accommodation.  The winners of the prize were Clair and Steve, who were previous clients of Ray White Kingsland, and they were thrilled to win the trip to Melbourne.

Goodwin Realty is a foundation member of Ray White New Zealand and a family owned and operated business that has been a proud member of their local community for 28 years. At the recent Ray White awards, Goodwin Realty was recognised for their community spirit; which is in-part a programme that helps to bond the community through common interests and local pride.  The Community Spirit Programme is centred on the magazine which can be seen at the Community Spirit website.  It contains details of events in the local area and gives information about local news, characters, lifestyle, business, events, entertainment and history. 

Catherine Goodwin, the General Manager of Goodwin Realty, talks about Community Spirit with great enthusiasm. She said the basis for the magazine is to help connect people in the local area.  “It brings our community to life and invites people to be part of what we call ‘our community spirit’.  Our business, Goodwin Realty, has long been involved with supporting the community and we feel this combines our business with the way we wish to give back to the community.  We have many good business partners with us including Telstra Clear in the Community Spirit Programme and we were proud to receive the Ray White award for excellence in the community.” To find our more information on the Community Spirit programme please email info@communityspirit.co.nz