Whanganui Senior Constable Jason Page is five years into his Bikes to Promote Health and Wellbeing initiative.
Whanganui Senior Constable Jason Page is five years into his Bikes to Promote Health and Wellbeing initiative.
A bike-related initiative set up by a Whanganui police officer has evolved into a bigger project that aims to promote health and foster positive relationships between the police and community.
Bikes to Promote Health and Wellbeing is an initiative that donates refurbished bikes to troubled young people and teaches kids how to safely ride and maintain their bikes.
Senior Constable Jason Page has worked for the police for 28 years, spending 18 years as a police dog handler/analyst before becoming a youth aid officer two years ago.
Page was fixing up bikes with the help of others on top of his dog-handling role. He said when he became a youth aid officer two years ago, it was easier to manage.
“It was great because it meant that I could bring the concept of what I was doing into the office,” Page said.
“Every youth aid officer in the country has their own style and what we may refer to as our model of practice.
“My model of practice when I’m going into families and speaking to them about a child that is offending or struggling is to say ‘is this something you might be interested in doing?’.”
Senior Constables Jason Page (left) and Rob Conder with Bike Shed owner Doug Rennie in 2020 when the initiative started.
Page now offers supervised group rides to bike parks and opportunities to improve children’s skills and explore the wider regional landscape.
He said families were often surprised when the option was made available to them.
Page keeps a selection of bikes for those who do not have one to provide children the chance to join others in learning how to ride and maintain a bike.
Page said the programme was rewarding for himself and his colleagues.
“The whole thing hinges on relationships. By having a good relationship with them it makes it easy for us to deal with them if we need to,” Page said.
“With the families I work with, it builds relationships with them too, probably because they may not have ever experienced police in that light.
“To see a policeman in a different light, helping them or giving them something beneficial, can be quite rewarding. The biggest reward is seeing happy faces.”
Senior Constable Jason Page has been on the police force for 28 years, training police dogs for 18 of those years.
Page said the initiative was not restricted to children and young people; he had also assisted people in the homeless community when they asked for a bicycle.
The programme would not have got to where it was without the help of other agencies that did similar work, such as Whanganui Green Bikes and Doug Rennie from The Bike Shed, he said.
“If the kids are out riding their bike, they feel good, they are having fun and they’re healthy.”
Sergeant Craig Yorston said the programme relied on mentorship and building positive relationships.
“These simple yet effective approaches have contributed to a notable reduction in criminal activity and victimisation among the participants, while also fostering conversations that equip and enable ‘hope’ to improve life outcomes for the young people involved,” Yorston said.
Page has evolved the programme by taking youth on expeditions to the Old Coach Road and Turoa Ski Field, introducing them to their “playground” and educating them about their whakapapa.
Senior Constable Jason Page hopes the initiative will help some members of the community see police in a different light.
He said it was a fitting way for some young people to connect to their awa (river) and maunga (mountain).
The Bikes to Promote Health and Wellbeing initiative relies on donated bikes and bike parts.
“If they have got a bike sitting in their garage that they are not using and want to see it go to a good cause then I am the man to contact,” Page said.
