Rotorua Car Seat Clinic in need of car seat donations

Aurelia O'Hagan, 3, learns how to strap in her teddy with her mother Amy O'Hagan. Photo/Stephen Parker

Volunteers who help ensure children are being safely restrained in cars are calling out for car seat donations.

Rotorua Car Seat Clinic volunteer Alice Waitoa said they were keen to hear from people who had a capsule/car seat that was within its expiry date and in good condition.

She said there had always been quite a high demand and they got requests all the time for car seats.

However, the most common form of requests came from referrals through the likes of Plunket, midwives and doctors.

Waitoa said they had only started the clinic in August last year, and now that the clinic's name was more recognisable, they were getting more requests.

The clinic had given out about 30 seats this year, and also ran free car seat checks and clinics.

There were only two volunteers running the car seat clinic - Alice Waitoa and Amy O'Hagan - and there were two trainee techs.

"It's all voluntary, and we try to do what we can to help people and kiddies."

Waitoa said at the checks and clinics a lot of people showed up with expired car seats or ones that were not ideal.

She said they sometimes provided new seats by referral, but if there were ones they could rehome that were sitting in garages or storage, that would be ideal.

"It's vital for a child's safety to make sure car seats are installed correctly, and that you are using the right car seat for children's age, weight and height.

"It can really improve the child's outcomes in a crash of any kind. It's about making sure that the car seat is installed and done correctly every time, because you never know when may be in a crash."

Clinic volunteer Amy O'Hagan said, of the people who had their car seats checked between August 2017 and July this year, 85 per cent of them were incorrectly installed.

She said if people were not sure whether their car seat had expired they would be happy to check for them.

Those who have car seats to donate to the clinic can get in touch through the Rotorua Car Seat Clinic Facebook page, or drop the seats into Plunket.