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Wellington Community Organisations Honoured

Wellington City Council

Friday 18 September 2009, 7:21AM

By Wellington City Council

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WELLINGTON

Six Wellington community organisations and their volunteers were honoured at the 2009 Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards last night.

The awards acknowledge the contribution of voluntary and non-profit organisations and their volunteers, and were presented at a ceremony hosted by Mayor Kerry Prendergast in the Council Chambers.
Each category winner won $500 and the chance to go through to the regional finals being held next month, where they will be up against category winners selected by other Councils in the region.

The category winners were:

  • Lyall Bay Surf and Life Saving Club Inc (Sport and Leisure)
  • Mary Potter Hospice (Health and Well-being)
  • Computer Access New Zealand Trust (Heritage and Environment)
  • Vincent's Art Workshop (Arts and Culture)
  • English Language Partners, Wellington (Education and Child Youth Development).

The Wellington Community Law Centre was highly commended in the Health and Well-being category.
The overall winner selected was the Computer Access New Zealand Trust (CANZ), which was set up to promote the re-use and recycling of computer equipment. CANZ created 'eDay' to raise awareness of the dangers of eWaste in landfills. It has now grown into a national phenomenon, with 40 communities involved across New Zealand. CANZ won another $500 for being named overall winner.

The awards attracted 41 nominations this year and Mayor Prendergast says the calibre of entries was extremely high. "We would have loved to award a prize to all who were nominated - they are all winners in our eyes for the wonderful work they do, often behind the scenes.

"A lot of these organisations couldn't survive without the commitment and dedication of their volunteer workforce and these awards are just a small way of saying thank you to them for all their hard work."

Wellington Airport CEO Steven Fitzgerald says the Airport looks forward to hosting the winners at the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards final at the end of October. "It's the enthusiastic passion of these volunteer groups that contributes so strongly to Wellington's community spirit, a spirit which attracts attention and demands recognition. Congratulations to them all."