Send Your Service: Aura Rotorua initiative raises nearly $20,000 for local charities

Aura Accommodation staff June Mostero (left), Stella Jones, Ellen Tyrrell, Chloe Clark, and Minal Naidu. Aura lets guests forfeit their room service to benefit charity. Photo / Andrew Warner

A Rotorua accommodation business is using a unique method to raise thousands of dollars for local charities.

Aura Rotorua's Send Your Service initiative allows guests staying for more than one night to forfeit their daily housekeeping service for a $5 donation to a local charity by the accommodation provider.

Managing director Nick Fitzgerald said since the initiative started in 2018, it had raised $19,720.

The majority of that has been donated to Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Rotorua but more recently Aura has added Rotorua Trails Trust as an option, giving guests the option to choose which of the two they support, he said.

"We set it up around our own observations of ways we could help the community, reduce our environmental impact, and guest expectations of what room servicing was all about.

"We've worked with Big Brothers and Big Sisters from the start but over summer we tried a slightly different system which gives our guests a choice of where they want it donated, Big Brothers and Big Sisters or the Rotorua Trails Trust."

Since the programme began, 41.01 per cent of guests who stay more than one night have opted to "Send Your Service", Fitzgerald said.

"It is a really popular option.

"It's important to us that we are contributing back to this community that our business operates in. Our business operates off people coming to Rotorua so ensuring we're giving back to the community and aiding in some of the social challenges with Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

"More recently with the Rotorua Trails Trust it's seeing that a lot of our guests are here with bikes and they are experiencing the forest. It helps our guests feel empowered to give back as well."

Fitzgerald also paid tribute to Redspot Creative which had supported Aura with all the design and signage for the initiative.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Rotorua is a charitable organisation committed to building healthy futures for Rotorua's tamariki through mentoring friendships.

Manager Darryl Parker said the support from Aura went a long way.

"Their support has been quite substantial for a reasonably small business," he said.

"It's massive for us on a financial level but it's more than just handing over money. Nick and the staff have taken a real interest in what we do, it's a really good relationship between a business and a community service.

"We get a lot of encouragement and inspiration from them and their kaupapa. The money supports what we do as a whole. It costs about $1500 to support a match for a year, so if you look at what they're giving each year it goes towards keeping several of those going."

Parker, an avid mountain biker himself, was pleased to see Aura supporting the Rotorua Trails Trust as well.

"All of that gives you this feeling of 'we're the same community, we support each other, and we're interested in what each other does'."

Rotorua Trails Trust operations manager Kris O'Driscoll said Send Your Service was "an awesome way to support us".

"It's not a passive donation, it's a great way to support us with customers in mind," she said.

"It's neat because they're mountain bikers and they realise that people come here to mountain bike. It's a great way for a business to support us and the trails. What Aura do is also a great way to profile us because many people don't know how the trails are maintained.

"The money goes towards maintenance, we do regular maintenance in the forest and the funding helps us do that. It takes a lot of hours to maintain all the trails.

"Big Brothers Big Sisters is another awesome organisation so it's really cool to be part of that."

- Journalist David Beck is a Big Brothers and Big Sisters volunteer.

• Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Rotorua is in need of more male mentors. Anyone interested in being a mentor can email darryl.parker@bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nz or call 07 349 9414.