Tūrangi Safety Day to highlight work of local emergency services

Multimedia Journalist, Waikato·Waikato Herald·

25 Apr, 2024 08:45 PM2 mins to read

SafeTea HQ in Tūrangi is often staffed by Safe Tūrangi's Tania Smallman (left) and Kathy Smallman (right), alongside Community Patrol New Zealand's Stella Gordon.

Safe Tūrangi is counting down the days to the town’s first Safety Day.

The free event will be an opportunity for residents to meet their local emergency services such as police and St John.

Safe Tūrangi co-ordinator Tania Smallman said the safety day was sparked by comments from the community.

“Talking to the community, you hear, ‘Oh, there’s never an ambulance in town, there are never police in town’, so we want to take this opportunity to reassure the community that they are here.

“Going with that, everybody else has jumped on board to get involved.”

The dedicated Tūrangi Safety Day comes on the back of successes at previous events like Christmas in the Park, where the emergency services and other organisations had also been keen to take part.

They all wanted to show people that, despite what they may have heard, help is always available in the town.

As part of the day, whānau can visit police, Coastguard, Fire and Emergency NZ and St John Ambulance, all of which will bring vehicles with them.

Fenz will also hold a fire demonstration and there will be giveaways, as well as stalls from other organisations such as ACC, LandSar and Civil Defence.

Tūrangi Safety Day is the latest of many services that Safe Tūrangi offers to provide help and reassurance to the community.

One popular programme has led to the charity, which works alongside Neighbourhood Support and Community Patrol New Zealand, giving away more than 50 car seats to whānau and having them professionally fitted in cars.

It also runs the SafeTea HQ in Tūrangi’s CBD, a space where organisations and the public can meet “so people can come in for a cup of tea”.

Smallman said the Safety Day was a great opportunity to showcase the personality and spirit of the town.

“It’s just something positive to be happening in Tūrangi, [at a time when] you hear so much negative.”