at New Zealand Community Safety and Injury
Prevention Awards
Community groups, companies, and individuals have been given a resounding ovation at the New Zealand Community Safety and Injury Prevention Awards.
The awards were held in Wellington on September 1 2008 and were attended by the 20 awards finalists along with the Minister for ACC, Hon Maryan Street, ACC's chief executive, Dr Jan White, and Dr Carolyn Coggan, the awards' chief judge and director of the Safe Communities Foundation NZ.
This is the fourth year the awards have run. They recognise, highlight and congratulate the extraordinary work that's going on around New Zealand to make our communities safer and better places to live, work and play.
“I am extremely impressed with the number and calibre of entries this year. Attracting 51 entries from across the country is fantastic and sets a new record for the awards,” said Dr Carolyn Coggan. “Once again it shows the depth of energy and passion New Zealanders have for improving the safety of their communities and the people who live within them,” she said.
ACC Minister Maryan Street said the majority of community safety work goes unsung.
“Safety and injury prevention initiatives in the communities usually don't get the recognition they deserve. So it's great to have the opportunity to celebrate the multitude of successes and sing the praises of the people who carry out the hard work usually on not much more than passion.”
The winners of this year's New Zealand Community Safety and Injury Prevention Awards are:
Category One
Emerging community safety and/or injury prevention initiative or programme
- Winner: ‘Blow the Whistle on Violence’ campaign, Tauranga Safe City and partners. The campaign ran during the Rugby World Cup targeting the link between major sports events and domestic violence. It used positive images of fathers and families, and sporting slogans reapplied to a happy family life.
- Highly Commended: ‘Make it a Safe Summer’, ShoreSafe Injury Free and North Shore City.
- Highly Commended: The Stratford TET Home Safety Project, Central Taranaki Victim Support Group and partners.
Category Two
Outstanding community safety and/or injury prevention initiative or programme
- Co-Winner: Marlborough Clued-up Kids, Marlborough Child Safety Group. Based on a Scottish programme, Clued-up Kids taught small groups of Year 5 and 6 children safety skills using hands-on, real life scenarios. A new programme begins in November.
- Co-Winner: TravelWise for Schools; Auckland Regional Travel Authority and partners. TravelWise for Schools encouraged parents to choose alternative travel options for taking their children to school, and made the road environment safer for the children to do so.
- Highly Commended: Port Users' Health and Safety Forum, Port of Tauranga.
Category Three
Outstanding example of the New Zealand Injury Prevention Strategy framework guiding the development of a community safety and/or injury prevention initiative or programme
- Winner: Taranaki Falls Prevention Strategy, New Plymouth Injury Safe Trust (NPiS). The strategy focuses on coordinating Taranaki's agencies involved in keeping older people upright and mobile, and improving older people's knowledge of and access to them.
- Highly Commended: The Kawerau Home Safety for Preschoolers Pilot Project (KHSPPP), KHSPPP Management Group.
Category Four
Outstanding business or organisation that is contributing to the greater well-being of its own workforce and the community in general
- Winner: Fulton Hogan. Contracting company Fulton Hogan takes safety seriously, both off and on the job. The Bay of Plenty office has implemented many beneficial health and safety initiatives at work, but has consistently been a part of keeping the Tauranga community safe too. This includes being part of the group that won Tauranga's WHO Safe Community designation.
- Highly Commended: Fletcher Construction, Tauranga Harbour Link, Stage 2.
- Highly Commended: HMI Technologies, Safe and Socially responsible.
This year the judging panel also highly commended two individuals whose work, passion and commitment has made an enormous contribution to the safety of their communities.
George Stephens, Counties Manukau Fire Safety Officer. A New Zealand Fire Service Veteran of 36 years, George Stephens has spent the past 13 years educating his South Auckland community about how to avoid house fires, and how to survive them.
Kim Anderson, for the Safety and Beautification of Smeaton Drive. When Kim Anderson moved to Whangarei's Smeaton Drive, the area was crime and graffiti-ridden, run-down. But with grit and determination - and several pots of paint - she has united her community, got children off the streets, wiped out graffiti and reinvigorated this forgotten suburb.
For more information about the awards or winners, please contact:
Stephanie, Lead ACC Media Advisor, 027 600 7359 / stephanie.julian@acc.co.nz
