‘Gallagher Grump’ wins over Dame Suzie in fundraising comp

31 January 2025

Fulton Hogan – Winner of People’s Choice

The results are in, and the ‘Gallagher Grump” has taken top honours in the 2024 Nelson Airport Trees of Remembrance campaign.

Gallagher Insurance was named the Overall Winner after wowing celebrity judge Dame Suzie Moncrieff with their innovative Christmas tree theme.

“I love the humour, the playfulness, the theatre and the little story that accompanies the tree,” Dame Suzie said in her judging notes.

The Gallagher tree featured ‘the Grump’ in the act of stealing the tree to demonstrate how important it is to have insurance against mischievous characters to provide financial protection against unexpected events.

Family favourite Fulton Hogan was the People’s Choice winner, attracting the highest number of public votes thanks to their quirky decorations that included “hi-vis” bows, toy trucks and decorations made by local primary school children.

The Nelson Airport Trees of Remembrance campaign, in its second year, raises funds and awareness for Nelson Tasman Hospice. Local businesses sponsor and decorate a tree to display in the Nelson Airport terminal from late November to early January, with all the funds going to hospice.

This year’s campaign raised an amazing $41,400 for Nelson Tasman Hospice. Hospice Head of Supporter Engagement Donna Ching-Tregidga said we are so grateful for Nelson Airport’s leadership and support of this special initiative and to all the businesses that sponsored and decorated their tree.

The Nelson Airport Trees of Remembrance has not only become a vital fundraiser for the service but also a special activation for visitors to the airport during this festive period. We were blown away by the creativity from all the businesses and loved seeing people engaging with the trees. All funds raised will go towards helping us to continue to provide free hospices services to 1 in 3 people that die in our community this year.

Nelson Airport Communications Manager Beth Catley said the event had once again proven a hit with the tens of thousands of travellers in the terminal over the festive season.

“The trees brought a lot of fun and joy into the terminal and our visitors loved checking out the decorations and voting for their favourites. There was also a ‘Great Bauble Hunt’ activity for kids which was really popular. We love hosting this event in support of our

region’s vital hospice services, and we were so impressed with the creativity and artistic flair of the generous local businesses who came on board to support the activation.”

Gallagher Insurance takes home a prize package including a Whenua Iti experience valued at $2000 to donate to a school of their choice, tickets to the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce Aspire Conference, tickets to NBS Dancing for a Cause, and a flight simulator experience with the Nelson Aviation College.

Fulton Hogan will receive a year’s free corporate parking at Nelson Airport, a team-building workshop delivered by Mark Hadlow of the Professional Theatre Company and tickets to NBS Dancing for a Cause.

One lucky voter in the People’s Choice competition won flights for two to Wellington with Originair, while the Great Bauble Hunt winner will enjoy a tour of Nelson Airport’s airfield and a ride on Flick the airport fire engine.

The tree sponsors for 2024 were:

NZ King Salmon

Originair

Motueka Creamery

KC&Co Real Estate

Nelson Pine Industries

Gallagher Insurance

Fulton Hogan

Prize sponsors included:

Whenua Iti Outdoors

Originair

Nelson Aviation College