My Account
Shona and her brother Greg Stevenson.
Skywork Helicopters was established in 1997 and is 100% New Zealand family owned and operated. The director/chief pilot Roger Stevenson and line pilots have more than 50 years of professional helicopter operations experience between them.
Which regional charitable groups, not-for-profits, or schools does your business support on a regular basis?
We have been supporting the Matakana Primary School Gala for over 25 years, along with Mangawhai Gala for over 15 years. Over the years we have regularly supported other local schools such as Tomarata, Kaipara and Warkworth where we can, as well as Hospice.
What made you decide to support these particular groups?
Neville Stevenson used to do the joy rides at Matakana School in the 80s and then his son Roger took over and now his son Greg is carrying on the tradition. Our families have strong roots to Matakana – five generations have been pupils at the school. We also appreciate the support the community gives our business.
What form does your support take?
Cash donations plus we donate scenic flights, goods and we also host visits from childcare centres where they can go through the hangar and see a helicopter up close. Also students from the college have visited to get a better understanding of what an aviation career is, whether it be as a pilot, an engineer or ground crew.
Is there a special moment you can share that highlights the importance of giving to a particular group?
Giving to a particular group creates a special bond. Giving back to a school that we have a close association with is always a great pleasure and we love the feedback we get from these organisations which we have, in some small way, helped to reach their goals, whether it be the Mangawhai netball courts or the Matakana School pool.
How many individuals does your business employ?
In total, 21 over three regional bases.
Do you use/support other local businesses?
Yes, we do – from buying new vehicles and repairs to supplies and services – for everything or anything we always go local first!
Why do you think it’s important for locals to ‘shop locally’?
We are all here to support each other. We start up these businesses in the area because we love the place and we enjoy the community. When everybody puts an effort in to support each other and shop locally it goes a long way. If you think you can get a better deal somewhere else, it’s better to ring your local shop/service and let them know and see if they can match it or help you in some way. We are a small town, everybody knows everybody and helping one another can go a long way and something good always comes out at the other end.
Our business needs this support in order that it can survive and provide regional local services such as on-call firefighting, power line survey and repairs after storms to places like Matakana, Great Barrier and Kawau Island, and not forgetting the search and rescue missions we are involved in.
