Providing community support outside of business
Landscape Architecture studio Rough and Milne (r+m) walks the talk when it comes to sporting sponsorships, providing money not just for events, but also for athletes. For the second year running r+m entered a staff team in the Challenge Wanaka, a triathlon event it also sponsors.
The team - Nicole Tune, Gerard O’Connell and Fraser Miller - turned in a great result too, placing 46th out of 139 teams.
The r+m Challenge Wanaka team: Nicola Tune, Gerard O’Connell and Fraser Miller.
Miller says the experience has left the team keen to have another crack next year, and possibly even field a second r+m team. “It was tough and certainly a challenge for us, but one we relished,” he says.
“On the day of the event, our team delivered our best performance, exceeding our training times, and finishing the event with nothing left in the tank. There is something brilliant about getting the absolute best out of your team, and coming away with a performance everyone can be immensely proud of”
Up and coming triathlete Ben Leech was sponsored by r+m in the Coast to Coast.
r+m also sponsored an athlete in the two-day individual 2021 Coast to Coast. Not a staff member this time but “a young fella with quite a bit of potential” according to company director Tony Milne. “I was keen to give him a leg up, allowing him to perhaps not work as much and train more, along with some financial help with gear.”
At a time when other businesses are tightening their belts “we’ve gone the opposite” says Milne. “Now’s the time to support. If you can, now is the time to help.”
Although to be fair r+m has supported various sporting organisations long before the arrival of COVID-19. Its longest sponsorship partnership is with the Canterbury Rams basketball team, which goes back six or so years. r+m’s support of the Canterbury Rams enables the team to carry out its own community and youth programmes.
Sponsorship of the Canterbury Rams enables the club to carry out its own community programmes.
“There is an ethos here that we are particularly community spirited,” Milne says. “We are a relatively sports-minded staff and collectively we like to consider ourselves outdoorsy. A number of us have been involved in various sporting organisations and we understand how hard it can be to get funding.”
The studio also sponsors the Riccarton Cricket Club and Craigieburn Valley Ski Area; and has previously supported rowing and sports programmes at two Christchurch secondary schools.
Outside of sport r+m is a sponsor of the Banks Peninsular Conservation Trust which was formed in 2001. It is a non-profit charitable organisation that works with landowners, agencies, runanga, sponsors, and the wider community to promote the conservation and enhancement of indigenous biodiversity and sustainable land management on Banks Peninsula.
Milne says “We have strong values at r+m around participation in the community and well-being and this drives our desire to provide support, not typically associated with landscape architecture, where we can.”