Fostering Resilience in Aotearoa New Zealand MEDIA RELEASE –

Embargoed until Friday 30 th May 2008

“New Ambulance Service for Wellington Community – More May Follow”

The New Zealand Resilience Trust is honouring 30 Wellington people at its inaugural prize giving ceremony this Friday.

Each person has completed a community education course with the local North Wellington Resilience Trust in the first half of this year.

Along with the recipients a number of others will be in attendance at the event, which will be hosted by the Hon. Peter Dunne, Patron of the North Wellington Resilience Trust.

Attendees at the event, to be held at Newlands College, will also hear Mr Dunne announce the establishment of a community ambulance service for the area. This service – which will be one of the first to be formed under the recently-updated quality standard for ambulances – will be the first ambulance service in the country owned- and operated at a grass roots level.

The NWRT will be operating an ambulance service in the Greater Newlands Area starting later this year, which will contribute to the resiliency of the community in a number of areas:

1. As a resource, it means an ambulance service will be available in the community should there be a major earthquake or other natural disaster;

2. Volunteers will be required to operate the ambulance, so local people will have the chance to learn valuable medical and patient care skills;

3. It will serve as a focus for community participation.

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