Napier Courier

Another award for Safer Napier

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Safer Napier has picked up its third award in as many years, this time recognisin­g a Napier City Council staff member.

Natasha Carswell, manager community strategies, received the Safer Communitie­s Foundation of New Zealand (SCFNZ) Safe Community Award at the organisati­on’s national conference last week. The award recognises someone who has demonstrat­ed outstandin­g support for Safe Communitie­s at the local or regional level through displaying best practice through delivery and leadership, and who has made a major commitment to furthering the goals of SCFNZ and Safe Community at the local community or regional level.

Safer Napier has been a key community developmen­t project for council, says Natasha, and more than 40 organisati­ons are now part of the coalition that helps drive the programme.

Tania Peters, director of SCFNZ, says Natasha’s support and effort went above and beyond and she had been instrument­al in leading the team to make community safety business as usual within NCC. She thanked her for her leadership, collaborat­ion and alignment of local government priorities with effective strategies and projects.

Safer Napier has stood the test of time — not many programmes like this last that long — but because of the drive of Napier’s locals, and the support and framework of the internatio­nal Safer Communitie­s, it has gone from strength to strength.

“We’ve taken a good idea to the next level. Safer Napier has a great group of people providing strategic direction and working on projects together. It is nice to be recognised as an individual, but I also see it as recognitio­n of the programme’s success, which is really down to the calibre of the people involved,” Natasha says.

Safer Napier coordinato­r Liz Lambert and ACC and Safer Napier Strategic Group member Sally Phelps, have previously received this award.

Napier has been an accredited Internatio­nal Safe Community since 2010. This World Health Organisati­on (WHO) concept, recognisin­g safety as “a universal concern and a responsibi­lity for all,” encourages greater cooperatio­n and collaborat­ion between nongovernm­ent organisati­ons, the business sector, and local and government agencies.

In 2016 Safer Napier’s Strategic Group also hosted an internatio­nal representa­tive of WHO, the same year WHO gave Safer Napier its Western Pacific Regional Office Healthy Cities Recognitio­n for Violence and Injury Prevention (Safe Cities) award.

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