Wellington Airport awards community volunteers
Wellington Airport, in association with The Community Trust of Wellington, awarded the Supreme Award for voluntary work in the community to Computer Access New Zealand Trust at the 2009 Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards.
The awards were presented by Hon Paula Bennett, Minister for Social Development and Employment, at a celebration dinner held at Wellington Airport coinciding with the Airport's 50th anniversary of its opening in 1959.
Computer Access New Zealand Trust runs an annual e-Day where electronic equipment waste is collected, assessed and separated for reuse, refurbishment or recycling. e-Day raises awareness of the benefits of recycling computers and the hazardous nature of electronic waste while offering households and schools an easy way and sustainable way to dispose of old computers and mobile phones. The event has grown to now include 39 centres across New Zealand, and has gone from collecting 54 tonnes of e-waste in 2006 to 976 tonnes of e-waste diverted from landfills in 2009.
The four other finalists for the Supreme Award were:
- Coasters Musical Theatre from the Kapiti Coast
- Prison Fellowship from Upper Hutt
- Great Start from the Hutt Valley
- Computer Access New Zealand Trust from Wellington City
- Porirua City’s Volunteer Fire fighters
"We invest heavily in the communities where we operate and we believe that positive relationships and involvement in communities where our business is based is a good investment," said Steve Fitzgerald, Wellington Airport CEO.
"Volunteers are at the heart of our community and Wellington Airport understands this. These awards give volunteers the recognition they really deserve," said Mr Fitzgerald.
The Community Awards are a journey that begins at the municipal level with Wellington's five councils awarding volunteer organisations in their local community and the finalists announced at the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards.
Computer Access New Zealand Trust receives an all expenses paid trip to the TrustPower National Awards to be held in Nelson on the weekend of 12-14 March 2010. The TrustPower National Community Awards started in 2000.
There are five categories for the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards.
The 2009 Category winners are:
- Heritage and Environment: Computer Access NZ Trust (Wellington City)
- Health and Wellbeing: Mary Potter Hospice (Wellington City)
- Arts and Culture: Vincent’s Art Workshop (Wellington City)
- Sport and Leisure: Kapiti Community Recreational Turf Trust
- Education and Child/Youth Development: E-Learning Porirua Trust
A. Heritage and Environment – Computer Access NZ Trust
Computer Access New Zealand Trust runs an annual e-Day where electronic equipment waste is collected, assessed and separated for reuse, refurbishment or recycling. e-Day raises awareness of the benefits of recycling computers and the hazardous nature of electronic waste while offering households and schools an easy way and sustainable way to dispose of old computers and mobile phones. The event has grown to now include 39 centres across New Zealand, and has gone from collecting 54 tonnes of e-waste in 2006 to 976 tonnes of e-waste diverted from landfills in 2009.
B. Health and Wellbeing - Mary Potter Hospice
Mary Potter Hospice provides specialist palliative care services to over 700 patients living with a terminal illness to the in-patient hospice in Newtown and in the community. A large team of over 1000 volunteers supports multi-disciplinary teams of doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, physiotherapists and spiritual carers. The volunteers assist with administration, meal serving, driving patients, fundraising and staffing the 5 second hand shops. The Mary Potter Hospice provided 5,500 bed days in the inpatient unit and made over 12,000 home visits in the past year.
C. Arts and Culture – Vincent’s Art Workshop
Volunteers have provided governance and assistance to Vincents Art Workshop for over 20 years. Established in response to the de-institutionalization of mental health communities, the workshop provides weekly tutored programmes to those who wish to express themselves creatively. Special “women only” classes and Ward 27 day classes are also held once a week. Vincents Art Workshop operates a gallery and creatively supports many Wellington events including the Newtown Festival, Cuba Street Carnival and WOW®.
D. Sport & Leisure – Kapiti Community Recreational Turf Trust
A hardworking team of volunteers and trustees over the past 6 years raised over $1.8 million to build a modern multi-sport facility in Paraparaumu which opened in March this year. The turf, available to the greater Wellington region for hockey, rugby and touch, has proved very popular and is currently operating at over 85% its capacity. The trustees continue to fund-raise and plan to add dug-outs, toilets and changing rooms to the facility.
E. Educational & Child/Youth Development - E-Learning Porirua Trust
E-learning Porirua Trust aims to increase attainment levels in students in low decile areas by providing computers and mentoring to schools, homes and in the Porirua community. Computers or finance for computers have been distributed to 24 low decile schools in the Porirua region and over 850 families have been trained and provided with refurbished computers and free internet through the Computers in Homes Programme. The Computers in Our Communities programme has seen public computers installed in locations such as maraes and the local RSA.
ENDS
Issued by: Wellington International Airport Limited
