The people have spoken, delivering a landslide victory to a potato-themed masterpiece of Crispmas cheer in the inaugural Nelson Airport Trees of Remembrance campaign.

If you were in Nelson Airport over the Christmas period, you wouldn’t have been able to miss the Christmas cheer. The display of nine festive Christmas Trees was part of a new partnership between the Nelson Tasman Hospice and Nelson Airport and ran from 30 November to 11 January.

The Nelson Airport Trees of Remembrance campaign will be an annual event to raise funds and awareness for hospice. Local businesses came on board to support the campaign by sponsoring and decorating a tree for display in the terminal.

Members of the public were invited to vote for their favourite tree, with the most popular tree crowned the People’s Choice winner. An Overall Winner was selected by special celebrity guest judge Dame Suzie Moncrieff, Founder of the iconic World of WearableArt Awards Show.

Last night, at a function at Nelson Tasman Hospice, the winners were announced with Proper Crisps being awarded both the People’s Choice Award and the Overall Winner Prize taking home $10,000 worth of digital advertising donated by New Zealand outdoor media solutions company GO Media.

When awarding Proper Crisps as the Overall Winner, Dame Suzie said the huge level of detail and creativity and the connection with their product and their people was a real stand out. “I loved the story behind the potato baubles and the Proper Crisp Elves that made it all happen. It was a very creative and engaging tree. Overall, the calibre of all trees was very high, and it didn’t make my job easy. I am looking forward to seeing what this year will bring.”

Chloe Lightfoot, Proper Crisps Sales Superstar and Crispmas Tree Team Leader said “Wow, this is an amazing acknowledgment to the Proper team, who work together to produce our sensational crisps and who went all out to craft our very own Crispmas Tree concept. Winning the Creative award and People's Choice award is a true testament to their collective talent and passion. It’s their dedication and hard work that has made us award-winning crisp makers and now proper Crispmas Tree decorators! Thank you to all who voted us, the judges and Nelson Tasman Hospice.”

NBS were presented with a highly commended award as Dame Suzie said she loved the concept of planting seeds throughout the community. Scott Construction were the runners up in the People’s Choice award for their tree which featured a helmet instead of a star as well as construction related toys which were given away at the end of the display as well as decorations made by their employees.

Nelson Tasman Hospice Chief Executive Tony Gray announced to the gathered business representatives that the activation had raised an impressive $41,500, which was met by a round of applause. “We appreciate the businesses that took part for being brave enough in this first year to give it a go. Thank you to Nelson Airport for backing this new activation, to GO Media for their prize sponsorship and to Dame Suzie Moncrieff for being our judge and taking the heat off us in having to decide on the wonderful trees. All money raised from the sponsorship of the trees will help patients and families in the Nelson Tasman region continue to receive free hospice services.”

Nelson Airport Communications Manager Beth Catley said: “We’re very excited to support this initiative again in 2024, and I can’t wait to see what our local business community comes up with to top last year’s stunning creations.”

The tree sponsors for 2023 were:

• Sounds Air
• NBS
• Proper Crisps
• Gallagher Insurance
• Nelson Pine Industries
• Scott Construction
• Jarden Nelson
• Smart Business Centre

Any businesses interested in taking part in 2024 should get in touch with the team at Nelson Tasman Hospice for more information.

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