Mask up on Northland public bus services and go into the draw to win grocery vouchers

Northland Regional Councillor Rick Stolwerk shows off his face covering at Whangārei's Rose St bus terminus.

People travelling on Northland's public bus service can go into the draw to win grocery vouchers for wearing face masks when aboard.

The 'Mask up Northland' campaign, running until December 14, aims to reward continued mask use among bus passengers and encourage further use among those who reluctantly wear them.

Northland Regional Councillor Rick Stolwerk, who chairs Northland's Regional Transport Committee, said wearing a face covering isn't always the most comfortable thing, but it does make a difference to passenger safety.

"With the large variety of mask and face coverings we thought it would be great to see the different coverings passengers are wearing to protect each other on the bus," Stolwerk said.

"To help encourage people to get involved we are giving away 50 x $30 grocery vouchers randomly to those that have entered the draw."

To enter Northlanders just need to upload a photo of their face covering to nrc.govt.nz/maskup

For those unable to wear a face for medical reasons and/or are exempt, they can upload a photo of themself scanning in for their ride on any CityLink/Buslink service in Northland or holding their Bee card.

He said all of these are ways to help prevent the spread of Covid 19 on public transport.
The prize draws for all 50 vouchers will take place on December 15.

Winners will be notified by email or phone over the next couple of days after the draws – with some of the judges' favourite pictures posted on Northland Regional Council's Facebook page over the following week.