Teen wins top Blue Light award
Local Pahiatua teenager Aimee Atkin, 14, has won the ultimate prize of Overall Excellence Award (Top Student) at the recent Blue Light Leadership Course held at Wairakei, Taupo, on December 3-7, 2018.
She beat a strong group of young people from the North Island to take the prize on the week long residential course.
Blue Light Camp co-ordinator Ben Pollard commented that “Aimee was presented the award of Overall Top Student as camp staff felt that she had showed maturity, intuition, excelled as a team member, displayed positive qualities of leadership and was respectful towards staff and fellow course members. Most of all Aimee really exemplified the qualities and attitudes the course aims to instil.”
The programme is run by New Zealand Blue Light in partnership with the NZ Police and NZ Defence Force. It provides 14 to 17-year-olds with a residential based course delivering quality life-skills and focusing on leadership skills and training. The programme specialises in building selfrespect, respect for others, and working within boundaries, selfcare, teamwork and problem solving.
For more information about the Blue Light Life Skills Camps visit www.bluelight.co.nz or call (09) 475-9301.
Blue Light has a strong vision of empowering youth. All Blue Light programmes and activities are designed to; reduce the incidence of young people being an offender or victim of crime and to encourage better relations between young people, their parents, the police and communities we live in.
Blue Light is grateful for the support of AA Insurance, their corporate sponsor, as well as the Lion Foundation.
New Zealand Blue Light is a registered charity and community policing youth program that for the past 30 years has run programs and activities for youth throughout New Zealand free from drugs, alcohol and violence.
Blue Light aims to reduce youth crime, build community partnerships, build young people’s self-esteem, enhance community safety as well as build positive youth and police partnerships.
Blue Light New Zealand is a nationwide incorporated society which has a national executive committee and operates 74 branches nationwide.
Each branch is responsible for sourcing their own funding to facilitate and provide their own youth community programmes.
Blue Light is supported by police officers, who carry out Blue Light activities over and above their normal police duties along with civilian volunteers. Those involved with Blue Light are passionate about youth and in particularly providing positive experiences for those who may otherwise not have an opportunity.
Although Blue Light is supported by police, the two operate totally independently and Blue Light does not receive any funding from police.
See www.bluelight.co.nz or visit www.facebook.com/ nzbluelight.
Blue Light originally began in Australia as a community policing initiative and remains very strong in all of the Australian States.
It is now active in the Solomon Islands, East Timor, Cook Islands, New Zealand and Scotland.