NEWS RELEASE
7 September 2007
Wellington Airport community awards announced
Five outstanding Wellington organisations and their volunteers were honoured last night at the 2007 Wellington Airport
Regional Community Awards.
The awards, which acknowledge the contribution of voluntary and non-profit organisations and their volunteers, were
presented by Mayor Kerry Prendergast at a ceremony in the Council Chamber.
The following community organisations have won $500 and the overall winner will go forward to the regional finals later
in the year. They are: Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Trust (Heritage and Environment and Overall Winner); Sport Wellington
Region for the Vector Wellington Round the Bays (Sport and Leisure); Wellington Somali Council (Education and
Child/Youth Development); Asian Events Trust for the Chinese New Year Festival (Arts and Culture) and Wellington
Hospitals and Health Foundation (Health and Wellbeing).
Mayor Prendergast says the calibre of entries was extremely high and choosing the winners was, as always, a difficult
task.
“We know there are thousands of wonderful voluntary organisations and volunteers working behind the scenes to ensure the
citizens of Wellington have access to the best possible range and quality of community and other services, attractions
and events. And they are all winners in our books. We know a lot of organisations couldn’t survive without the
commitment and dedication of their volunteer workforce. These awards are just a small way of saying thank you to our
volunteer community.”
Mayor Prendergast says the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Trust is very deserving of the overall award.
“The Sanctuary is a remarkable example of a vision coming to life and a lot of hard work, determination, dedication,
commitment and passion by the Sanctuary Trust and its volunteers. It is a fantastic city asset that looks set to become
one of the world’s leading environmental tourist attractions.”
The awards were judged by Wellington City Council, The Community Trust of Wellington and Wellington International
Airport. Criteria included volunteer input, innovation, effectiveness of activities and overall impact on the local
area.
The focus of the awards is to create awareness of the voluntary work that takes place around Wellington and to recognise
and reward the valuable contributions made by volunteers and their organisations.
“Statistics New Zealand recently released a report which shows there are 97,000 non-profit institutions with over one
million volunteers whose work is valued at $3.3 billion. These impressive figures show the value of volunteers to our
communities,” Mayor Prendergast says.
Wellington City Council news releases are also available daily as Web Alerts through the Council's website,
www.Wellington.govt.nz . To subscribe, select the Web Alerts icon on the home page.
VOTE for the Wellington YOU want!
ends