Southern Cross has announced that it has tapped former NZ director general of health Sir Ashley Bloomfield as its new mind health ambassador through the Pause Breathe Smile program.
“I’m very excited about supporting Pause Breathe Smile as a way to help our children be more resilient, positive, and ready to face challenging situations in their own lives. That Southern Cross fund the programme in its entirety, means any kura, primary or intermediate school can take part in a proven mindfulness programme which makes a practical difference every day,” Bloomfield said in a news release.
The Pause Breathe Smile program was established in 2013 to help the wellbeing of New Zealand children, with input from a range of experts in education, mental health, mātauranga Māori, psychology, and the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. Established in 2013 by Grant Rix, the program was fully funded by Southern Cross in 2020, although it is still led by the same founders today.
“It’s clear tamariki benefit from the mindfulness skills they learn through Pause Breathe Smile and thanks to the financial support of Southern Cross we can help more than the 114,000 children who have been through the programme already. With my public health hat on, I am convinced of the wider community benefits,” Bloomfield said.
Elsewhere in the firm, the insurer also recently bagged a seventh consecutive most trusted health insurer award from the 2023 Reader’s Digest NZ “most trusted brands” survey.
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