Chopper Month 2025: Westpac Gisborne fundraising for rescue missions

GEARING UP: Westpac NZ Gisborne bank manager Derek Craven (pictured) and his team are preparing for a busy month of fundraising in the 2025 Chopper Appeal.

• Westpac Gisborne is raising funds for rescue helicopter operations in the Tairāwhiti region.
• Activities include a street appeal, bake sale, raffle, and sausage sizzle during Chopper Month.
• Funds support the Eastland Rescue Helicopter, which completed 309 missions in 2024.

Chopper Month starts in earnest this week with Westpac Gisborne raising funds that will go directly to critical rescue helicopter operations in the Tairāwhiti region.

The annual appeal is backed by Westpac NZ to support rescue helicopter trusts throughout the country.

It last year raised a national tally of $1.44 million, over $15,000 of which was collected locally for the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust’s support of the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter.

That’s a figure local Westpac banking specialist and fundraising organiser Nadia Dal Col hopes to beat in Chopper Month 2025 with a quartet of activities, along with the direct-donation options available through the Gisborne branch or via the chopperappeal.co.nz website.

“Rescue chopper crews do a wonderful job in our region and around the country to help keep communities safe,” Dal Col said in a statement.

The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team found a rocky landing bed for last week’s mission to Kaweka Forest Park, inland from Napier. Photo / Supplied

“It’s a long-standing partnership that means a lot to us in Gisborne and we’re excited to help support their lifesaving work.”

• The Westpac Gisborne team join their national colleagues by shaking a bucket on Street Appeal Day from 9.30am until 2.30pm this Thursday, May 8, when they will be collecting outside their Gladstone Rd branch, with the added sweetener of holding a Bake Sale;
• From the same day they will offer raffle tickets in-branch, with a big-basket prize for the lucky winner;
• Throughout the month they’ll be selling money-bank choppers ($20) and helicopter key chains ($10), also in-branch;
• And on Saturday, May 24, Westpac staffers and volunteers will be on the tongs for a sausage sizzle at Mitre 10 (10am-2pm), with a couple of Eastland Rescue Helicopter crew members joining them as time allows.

“Mitre 10 has been behind us all the way for this event so we’re grateful for their support,” said Dal Col. “We’re also going to offer face-painting by donation (11am-1pm) so it’s going to be a really fun day.”

In 2024 the Eastland Rescue Helicopter team successfully completed 309 missions within its total of nearly 573 flying hours, an increase of more than 8% on the year before.

With that rising demand, Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust chairman Ian Parker said the public’s generosity is essential to keeping the helicopter and specialised crews operating for the good of Gisborne-Tairāwhiti and its diverse communities.

“Ours is a large and complex region that presents significant challenges in the delivery of medical and rescue services for both residents and visitors, where and when they need it most,” Parker said.

“We remain resolute in our commitment to providing equitable access to health services for all of our communities. And fundraisers like Westpac Chopper Month help support our Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team carry out their critical life-saving missions 24/7, 365 days of the year.”