Pero to Sponsor Greg Murphy in New V8 SuperTourer as Part of Suicide Awareness Campaign

Dec 11

Mike Pero Real Estate and Mike Pero Mortgages will be Greg Murphy’s new principle sponsor in the recently announced V8 SuperTourer category.  As part of this new sponsorship partnership, Pero and his business owners in both mortgages and real estate will work with Murphy and the racing team to promote CASPER, a suicide awareness campaign.

Murphy has a string of successes both here in New Zealand and across the Tasman, where he has consistently placed at the front of the V8 Supercar field.  Murphy has won the famous Bathurst endurance race four times and is continuously regarded as the ‘peoples’ choice’ by his Kiwi fans.

New Zealand has the highest rate of suicide in the OECD countries, with youth aged 15 to 25 years being one of the most suicide prone demographics.  “In order to help CASPER promote awareness, we have come up with an innovative way to bring attention to the problem and effectively deliver prevention and awareness messages to the target market.  These young lads relate to cars and speed, so if we can gain their attention through this sponsorship then it might just work,” explains Pero. 

CASPER is an acronym for Community Action on Suicide Prevention Education & Research and was co-founded in 2010 by Maria Bradshaw, who lost her son, Toran, to suicide.  The registered charity provides youth suicide prevention education in schools and through community workshops, supporting community and opinion leaders and policy makers with research to support evidence based suicide prevention. 

“CASPER espouses a social model of suicide prevention focused on strengthening community cohesion and addressing the social drivers of suicide.  We can provide information and support to the 65,000 New Zealanders bereaved by suicide in the last 25 years and the 11 new families who each week experience the suicide death of a loved one.  We are thrilled to have Greg and the Mike Pero team on board to support and help deliver our messages to the nation,” says Bradshaw.

Pero says through working with Bradshaw and her team he has come to understand the problem and he believes in the solution being promoted by CASPER.  “I believe, like many Kiwis and healthcare professionals, that these deaths are very preventable.  My concern is there are 11 people each week who are dying unnecessarily.  These people often had relationship issues, financial problems or a lack of belonging.  It’s a long-term solution for a short-term problem.  Maria and CASPER co-founder Deb Williams, along with many others who are actively involved with the charity, can speak from experience, having both lost their teenagers to suicide.”  

For further information contact:

Jane Broughton, Media & Public Relations Manager (Mike Pero)
021 248 8887
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For photo opportunities and to arrange an interview with:

Mike Pero
Phone: 027 645 3737 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Greg Murphy

Phone DSEG: +61 3 9645 6911

Phone: 021 066 1872 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

FACT SHEET

The Car

http://www.v8supertourers.co.nz/#!

CASPER – Suicide Statistics www.casper.org.nz

New Zealand has the highest rate of youth suicide in the OECD, twice the rate of the US and Australia and fives times the rate of the UK.
Males are three times more likely to die by suicide than females.
The rate of female suicide is increasing at a much higher rate than male suicide.
A quarter of all suicide victims are children and youth.
More New Zealand children die of suicide than of all medical causes combined.
10% of the deaths of New Zealand 10-14 year olds are suicides.
Suicides of 10-14 year olds increased by 60% between 2007 and 2010.
In 2010/11, 558 New Zealanders died from suicide.
Every week, 11 New Zealanders take their own lives.
New Zealand’s suicide toll is 50% higher than the national road toll

Mike Pero Mortgages

Mike Pero Mortgages was founded in 1990, growing from a one-man band to a highly respected brand within the financial real estate sector.
The company’s prompted brand awareness continually rates above 95% with New Zealanders.
In 2005, Pero sold the business for $15 million to fellow Christchurch businessman George Gould.
In 2006, the company listed on the NZX at a value of $25 million, with two companies, NZF of New Zealand and Liberty Financial Pty of Australia bidding for the shares.
The two companies ended up as joint owners of the then de-listed company.
Mike Pero remains a director of Mike Pero Mortgages.
In its first 20 years to 2010, Mike Pero Mortgages has been involved in more than 80,000 home loan transactions, totaling more than $8 billion.

Mike Pero Real Estate

Mike Pero Real Estate was launched in 2011, in partnership with Mike Pero Mortgages.
The company presently has franchises in Auckland and Canterbury, and is growing nationally.
Mike Pero Real Estate undercuts its national competitors by 1%, with a selling commission rate of 2.95% (plus GST).
The business model allows Mike Pero Real Estate salespeople to own their own franchised business under the Mike Pero brand.
Without the burden of middle management and high overheads, the Mike Pero Real Estate model can pay its agents a greater share of the selling commission.

NZ V8 SUPERTOURER CALENDAR 2012

ROUND 1 - February 17/18/19  Hampton Downs Motorsport Park North Waikato 
ROUND 2 -  April 7/8  (Easter)  Powerbuilt Tools Raceway  Christchurch    
ROUND 3 - April 27/28/29  Manfeild Autocourse Feilding
ROUND 4 -  June 1/2/3 (Queens Birthday Weekend) Hampton Downs Motorsport Park North Waikato
ROUND 5 - August 10/11/12  Taupo Motorsport Park     
ROUND 6 - September 21/22/23  Hampton Downs Motorsport Park North Waikato 
ROUND 7 (FINAL)  - October 26/27/28  Powerbuilt Tools Raceway Christchurch