Dulux New Zealand Partnerships and Community Support

Written by

Dulux

13 November 2023

•

5 min read

Dulux has helped protect, maintain, and enhance the spaces and places where Kiwis live, work, and play since 1939. Dulux sponsors and partners with not-for-profits, communities, Kiwi athletes and more to protect and support the places and things that matter most to New Zealanders. Keep reading to find out more about how Dulux uses products and colours to protect and decorate New Zealand.

Youngman Stream Hut DOC Partnership

Dulux has helped protect, maintain, and enhance the spaces and places where Kiwis live, work, and play since 1939. Dulux sponsors and partners with not-for-profits, communities, Kiwi athletes and more to protect and support the places and things that matter most to New Zealanders. Keep reading to find out more about how Dulux uses products and colours to protect and decorate New Zealand.

Dulux and The Department of Conservation

From New Zealand's northernmost island, Raoul Island to the subantarctic Auckland Islands, Dulux, and the Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai have been working together since 2013 to protect backcountry DOC huts, historic buildings, and other facilities for future generations to enjoy.

Dulux has maintained the Department of Conservation huts since 2013.

The partnership began in 2013 and focuses on protecting and restoring DOC and community huts and buildings.

DOC's huts have long provided essential shelter for Kiwi outdoor enthusiasts and international visitors. Situated in a variety of landscapes from alpine to coastal settings these huts are often exposed to New Zealand’s harshest and most extreme weather conditions. They protect visitors who seek shelter, and this partnership helps to protect the huts themselves. The partnership also supports projects that protect and restore recreational and historic assets. Many of these assets require specialist support and technical expertise to restore them, and this is where Dulux supports them. Dulux donates paint, woodcare, project funds and technical and design expertise.

Dulux is proud to support the Department of Conservation in protecting the natural and historic heritage sites that have inspired the Dulux Colours of New Zealand.

Dulux and the Surf Life Saving New Zealand

Dulux and Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) have partnered to protect surf lifesaving clubs against the harsh New Zealand weather conditions they face throughout the year.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Dulux Colours of New Zealand

First arriving on the shores of New Zealand in 1910 at Lyall Bay and New Brighton, SLSNZ is a charity representing 74 Surf Life Saving clubs across New Zealand, and over 4500 volunteer Surf Lifeguards who patrol at over 80 locations through summer as well as 40 Emergency Call Out Squads throughout the year.

We are a swimming nation. New Zealand boasts 15,000 km of coastline and 90% of us live within 40 minutes of a beach. But our surf can be a deadly playground. Since 1910, Kiwis have volunteered their weekends to patrol our beaches saving thousands of lives and keeping people safe. Surf Lifeguards can be the difference between life and death and every volunteer Surf Lifeguard knows the powerful motivation of saving or protecting a life.

Many clubs are situated in the places that inspired the Dulux Colours of New Zealand paint range. Dulux is helping to protect the clubs that call these beautiful New Zealand places home.

Dulux and the Pet Refuge

Pet Refuge is a charitable trust that believes that no one should live with violence, and that’s why they have built a shelter that temporarily houses pets affected by domestic violence, so their owners can escape abuse at home. The specially designed shelter is the first of its kind in NZ, with plans to build more around the country in key locations.

NZ has the second-highest rate of pet ownership in the world, and unfortunately the highest rate of family violence in the OECD countries. The 2018 Women's Refuge survey of women whose pets were abused as part of domestic violence found that 53% delayed leaving family violence out of fear for their pet’s safety.

Most refuges don’t have facilities to house pets, so this creates a barrier for people wanting to leave, as they can’t face leaving their pets behind. By providing a shelter that works alongside Women’s Refuge, victims can leave with their pets, knowing there will be a safe place for them to go, and can be reunited once longer-term plans are in place.

Dulux has contributed a significant amount of products and resources for the build of the shelter by supplying all the paint and coatings needed such as decorative paints like Wash&Wear®, Weathershield® and Aquanamel®, as well as speciality protective coatings like Fireshield®. Dulux has also provided technical advice and interior design expertise for the shelter. It is expected that the pets Pet Refuge will care for will be stressed or traumatised so the interior environment they enter must provide a calming and positive energy. Contrary to what many people think, cats, dogs, birds, and many other animals can see colours, so we have incorporated this into the design of the shelter through the Dulux Colours of New Zealand®. Dulux has also sponsored a ‘virtual brick’ in the names of each of its NZ employees.

Dulux is continually researching ways to reduce the environmental impact of products, without affecting their superior performance. Dulux opened its first New Zealand manufacturing plant in Gracefield, Lower Hutt in 1939. Since then, hundreds of water-based paint and coating products have been produced and distributed throughout New Zealand providing New Zealanders with the very highest quality Dulux paint. For nearly 85 years Dulux has played a critical role in creating and improving the infrastructure seen across New Zealand, every day.