Walking School Bus Megastar Evening

· Time: 7pm – 10pm

· Date: 18 June 2014

· Venue: Dorothy Winstone Centre, Auckland Girls’ Grammar School

As part of National Volunteer Week, Auckland Transport is hosting an event to recognise and celebrate the vital contribution made by parent volunteers to the Walking School Bus programme.

National Volunteer Week is one of New Zealand’s largest recognised volunteer celebrations, where organisations celebrate, award and showcase their appreciation for the level of work undertaken by volunteers. This week is taking place from 15 – 21 June 2014.

During this week, Auckland Transport will be celebrating and recognising the contribution made by parent volunteers by hosting an event of wine, cheese, dance and comedy with entertainment by comedians Paul Ego and Ben Hurley. The MC for the event is AT staff member, Nicola Reid and there are 630 people confirmed to be attending.
Special Award Winners
There are a total of 4 special award winners which will be announced at the event and each will be presented with a trophy and certificate.
There will be one winner from South Auckland, one from West Auckland, one from Central Auckland and one from North Auckland.
Walking School Bus overview
Walking school buses (WSBs) are operated by volunteer parents and caregivers and are well supported by Schools and Auckland Transport. There are over 1400 volunteers in the programme and these volunteers play a vital role, because without them, there wouldn’t be walking school buses.

With the help of our WSB volunteers, the programme has grown from strength to strength in the 2013 school year. There are now 362 active WSBs across the Auckland region and the benefits of the programme are as follows:

· Contributes to a reduction in pedestrian related crashes for children aged between 5 to 8 years.

· Reduces the number of cars on the road during the morning and afternoon peak, improving safety and creating less congestion around the school gate.

· The children develop a sense of independent and learn valuable road safety skills.

· Fosters a sense of community as families get to know each other, and their children become friends.

WSB statistics and highlights:

· There are currently 362 active Walking School Bus routes across the Auckland region.

· There are 1,239 daily trips taken on the Walking School Bus.

· There were 2754 engagements with Walking School Bus parent coordinators or volunteers in 2013.

· 34% of Walking School Bus volunteer coordinators note that the Walking School Bus fuels community spirit within their neighbourhood.

· We provided 42 Volunteer Professional Development sessions across the region in 2013. Topics include first aid, recruiting volunteers and succession planning. We had 375 volunteers attend these events and as such, these events allowed us to communicate, engage and support new and existing volunteers.

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