Pero Sponsors Greg Murphy Supertourer for Suicide Prevention

Pero to Sponsor Greg Murphy in New V8 Supertourer as Part of Suicide Prevention Campaign

Media release: Thursday 8th December 2012 Mike Pero Real Estate and Mike Pero Mortgages will be Greg Murphy’s new principal sponsor in the recently announced V8 SuperTourer category. As part of this new sponsorship partnership, Pero and his business owners in both mortgages and real estate will work with Murphy and the racing team to promote CASPER, a suicide awareness campaign.

Murphy has a string of successes both here in New Zealand and across the Tasman, where he has consistently placed at the front of the V8 Supercar field. Murphy has won the famous Bathurst endurance race four times and is continuously regarded as the ‘peoples’ choice’ by his Kiwi fans.

New Zealand has the highest rate of youth suicide in the OECD countries, with youth aged 15 to 25 years being one of the most suicide prone demographics. “In order to help CASPER promote awareness, we have come up with an innovative way to bring attention to the problem and effectively deliver prevention and awareness messages to the target market. These young ones relate to cars and speed, so if we can gain their attention through this sponsorship then it might just work,” explains Pero.

CASPER is an acronym for Community Action on Suicide Prevention Education & Research and was co-founded in 2010 by Maria Bradshaw, who lost her son, Toran, to suicide. The registered charity provides youth suicide prevention education in schools and through community workshops, supporting community and opinion leaders and policy makers with research to support evidence based suicide prevention.

“CASPER espouses a social model of suicide prevention focused on strengthening community cohesion and addressing the social drivers of suicide. We can provide information and support to the 65,000 New Zealanders bereaved by suicide in the last 25 years and the 11 new families who each week experience the suicide death of a loved one. We are thrilled to have Greg and the Mike Pero team on board to support and help deliver our messages to the nation,” says Bradshaw.

Pero says through working with Bradshaw and her team he has come to understand the problem and he believes in the solution being promoted by CASPER. “I believe, like many Kiwis and healthcare professionals, that these deaths are very preventable. My concern is there are 11 people each week who are dying unnecessarily. These people often had relationship issues, financial problems or a lack of belonging. It’s a long-term solution for a short-term problem. Maria and CASPER co-founder Deb Williams, along with many others who are actively involved with the charity, can speak from experience, having both lost their children to suicide.”

ENDS

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