Sue Foley, Julie Hancox, Richie McCaw, Tracy Huff

Media Release

12 December 2014

The Westpac Giving Tree to Dazzle Auckland This Christmas

Richie McCaw, Westpac Ambassador and co-founder of the For Everyone Charitable Foundation, has today unveiled the Westpac Giving Tree, a unique donation-activated Christmas tree installation that will light up Takutai Square in Britomart, in support of the foundation’s community project grants.

Inspired by the season’s spirit of giving, the Westpac Giving Tree is powered by public donations and will put on New Zealand’s first interactive Christmas tree show combining motion, sound and light, daily until 21 December.

Donations can be made onsite with any contactless payment card – or through one of the onsite assistants - and will help the For Everyone Foundation fund community-based projects throughout New Zealand in 2015. Richie presented the Foundation’s 100th grant, to Assistance Dogs New Zealand Trust, this morning.

Sue Foley, Director Corporate Affairs, Westpac New Zealand Limited, says, “We are excited to see a little bit of magic brought to life this Christmas. More than just a tree, this will be an enchanting, heart-warming experience that the whole family can enjoy and we are thrilled to be a part of it.”

An eight-metre high tree festooned with lights is surrounded by six four-metre high trees. Each time someone makes a donation, the trees will start to move, change colour and create sounds - making the donor a hero in the square.

The soundscape, co-composed by The Phoenix Foundation’s Conrad Wedde, will change throughout the day on a 24-hour loop, allowing for a fully immersed walk-through experience.

“It truly is a kaleidoscopic experience that brings the spirit of Christmas to life in a wonderful way,” says Ms Foley.

The unique installation was designed by Rawstorne studio and took 500 hours to construct, using 400m of cabling. The large 900kg tree and six 300kg trees have each been fixed with six-faceted mirror panels, flown in from Switzerland. The mirrored panels will reflect 150 coloured lights across the square.

Rochelle Gates, General Manager of For Everyone Foundation says, “We are all about uniting Kiwis, celebrating our beautiful country and inspiring more Kiwis to work together to help others. We think the Westpac Giving Tree is the perfect way of celebrating and rewarding the spirit of giving this season.”

People can experience the Westpac Giving Tree, free, and for those who can’t make it in person, donations can be made via www.westpacgivingtree.co.nz where a 24hour webcam inside one of the revolving trees will take donors for a spin.

The For Everyone Charitable Foundation was founded by Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Ali Williams. Westpac New Zealand Limited is the charitable foundation’s major grants partner and together they’ve helped over 100 community groups get things done in their neighbourhood since 2009.

The Giving Tree experience can be shared on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using #GivingTreeNZ.

Ends

For daily timings and more information, go to westpacgivingtree.co.nz

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