Youth to get a boost from AA Insurance

Youth to get a boost from AA Insurance

AA Insurance teams up with charity to support young New Zealanders

AA Insurance has today announced its partnership with youth charity Blue Light to support young New Zealanders, helping them to make good decisions and develop strong self esteem.

AA Insurance will be the principle corporate sponsor of Blue Light, a New Zealand organisation that aims to raise the self esteem of young people, reduce youth offending numbers and build better relationships between police, young people, their parents and the community.

“It’s important that young people get started on the right track, so they grow up to be positive people who make sensible life decisions,” says Suzanne Wolton, Head of Corporate Affairs, AA Insurance. “We chose to support Blue Light because it has a great community focus. It really strives to make our young people stronger and our communities safer, by running programmes that expose youth to different, healthy experiences. It’s a really remarkable organisation and we’re proud to be helping them reach more young people.”

AA Insurance will provide funding to extend Blue Light’s programmes, such as leadership camps and handbooks for youth, support national office projects and help raise Blue Light’s profile.

“Although it’s not a main focus, our support also extends to teaching young people about being good and responsible drivers. More than any other age group, our research has found that younger drivers take bigger risks on the road,” says Suzanne.

“At Blue Light we aim to build up our young people, so they can become strong individuals who are positive members of the community, and we really focus on being alcohol, drug and violence free,” says Rod Bell, CEO, Blue Light. “It’s a big job working with over 200,000 youth each year so we’re very pleased to have AA Insurance on board to help boost the work we do.”

According to the 2010 AA Insurance Drivers Index, 25 percent of 18-24 year olds have been involved in an accident where their driving was considered to be the cause. AA Insurance surveyed 4,336 New Zealand drivers aged 18-65 for the Index.

“We realise that teenagers are faced with a lot of decisions when they reach adulthood, and safe driving responsibilities are just some of them. We hope that with Blue Light we can make these decisions less confusing and educate young people on how to be responsible drivers,” says Suzanne.

“Young people often don’t understand the benefits of car insurance, especially as they may drive older cars that are of less value. But if you damage someone else’s car and you don’t have insurance you will have to pay for it. One accident could leave a young driver with a long-term debt.”

ENDS

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