Hato Hone St John is thrilled to have been voted New Zealand’s Most Trusted Charity in the Reader’s Digest annual Trusted Brand Awards for the 10th time.

As well as being voted Most Trusted Charity, Hato Hone St John also placed second in the Overall Top 20 Trusted Brands winners.

Hato Hone St John Chief Executive, Peter Bradley, says the recognition is humbling, especially with the challenges Aotearoa has faced with the pandemic and the increasing demand on the health system.

“Being named Most Trusted Charity for the 10th time reinforces our commitment to making life-changing differences with our communities. We are focused on improving the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders and play an ever-increasing role in meeting the broader health needs of communities throughout Aotearoa,” Mr Bradley says.

“Our people have always been there when people have needed us most, and it’s amazing to hear so many New Zealanders trust us with their lives and the lives of their whānau, often at times when they are at their most vulnerable,” he says.

In the past year, Hato Hone St John received more than 600,000 111 emergency calls for an ambulance, taught life-saving first aid to more than 175,000 people, provided peace of mind for 50,000 people with a medical alarm and our Health Shuttles made more than 60,000 trips around New Zealand.

Mr Bradley attributes the organisation’s ability to maintain its place as Most Trusted Charity as testimony to the care its employees and almost 8,000 volunteers show towards New Zealanders every day.

“To be voted the second most trusted brand overall for the second consecutive time, next to much loved New Zealand chocolate brand Whittaker’s couldn’t be sweeter.”

Mr Bradley says the organisation’s ambulance services, community health programmes, and other products and services combined help build community resilience, trust and credibility from patients, donors, customers, and supporters and this recognition from the New Zealand public is a huge honour.

“Hato Hone St John is part of the fabric of Aotearoa New Zealand and while many of the public know us for our emergency ambulance service, our people are in the community delivering first aid training, providing free health initiatives such as our Health Shuttles, Caring Caller services and youth and rangatahi schools education programmes that touch the lives of thousands of New Zealanders.”

The Most Trusted Brands is an annual independent survey conducted globally. The work is commissioned by Reader’s Digest and conducted by Catalyst Research who, this year, polled a representative sample of 1,689 Kiwis. They voted on 506 brands in 71 categories of products and services on a scale of 1-10 for trust and awareness.

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