Damon is the editor and publisher of The Profit. Damon has over 20 years experience as a journalist, content developer, marketer and public relations specialist. Damon is a huge advocate for Hawke's Bay businesses and The Profit was created as a platform to celebrate HB businesses and business people. Damon is also a director of Attn! marketing pr - www.attn.co.nz alongside wife Anna Lorck. He is also a Hastings District Councillor and chairman of Sport Hawke's Bay.
In his spare time he loves surfing, mountain biking, crossfit and spending time with his family, which includes five girls! If you've got a great story contact Damon on 021 2886 772 or damon@theprofit.co.nz
Do you have an awesome business idea that you want to bring to reality but are struggling to get it off the ground? It’s time to become a rebel and step out of your comfort zone and participate in the 10-day free Rebel Business School Aotearoa.
The Napier City Council, Hastings District Council and Ministry of Social Development are bringing back the Rebel Business School from July 17-28 to Hastings City and online via live Zoom webinars.
Over the ten days, Rebel Business School and its NZ founder Tony Henderson-Newport, who brought the programme from the UK in 2017 will deliver 20 workshops designed to equip participants with the tools they need to start their own business. Tony will be supported by Mid Thomas-Savelio, a respected cultural leader.
Topics include building a website for free, business structure and compliance, social media and marketing, and how to start a business with no money and is rebelling against traditional thinking by replacing business plans with actionable, no-cost steps. Napier City Council economic development manager Bill Roberts says over 58 new businesses from across Hawke’s Bay have participated in the Rebel Business School, developing their business ideas, prototyping their products and finding their best routes to market.
“We at Napier City Council are delighted to support the Rebel Business School. By nurturing business start-ups we are increasing business resilience and innovation, so as to grow the Hawke’s Bay economy as a whole.”
“Small business is really important to our economy – 97% of New Zealand businesses employ up to 20 people and this represents 60% of all jobs in New Zealand. “We actively encourage people to make that step of getting on their small business journey and attend the Rebel Business School,” says Hastings District Council economic development manager Lee Neville.
Since the first course ran in Porirua in October 2017 over 1,000 participants have attended and formed a vast array of product and service related businesses in a number of different industries including retail, food, craft, service consulting and many more. It is inspiring to see the excitement grow in attendees as their business comes to life,” said Tony.
More information is available at https://www. rebelbusinessschool.nz/about.html. While the course is free for participants to attend, Henderson-Newport said it would not have happened without the generous support of its funding partners. “We are grateful to our partners: Hastings District Council, Napier City Council and the Ministry of Social Development. They recognised what this opportunity means for the community and came onboard again. We are just so excited to get stuck in.” For more information about Rebel Business School, Aotearoa, go to www.rebelbusinessschool.nz or our
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIQAEpOJB8jcRT0SMyXBgiw/videos?view_as=subscriber.
The timing of establishing a new business was far from perfect as we were all still living in a COVID19, it was brave to consider starting a new business, but the rollercoaster ride since for Ultrasound Hawke’s Bay remains rewarding.
When Jody and Rohana Dawson featured in the March 2021 issue of The Profit, they were in the throes of setting up an independent medical diagnostic business in Havelock North.
The couple had rekindled their teenage relationship, reconnecting via social media with Jody subsequently moving home to New Zealand. The couple also decided to ‘elope’ in 2021 marrying at a local Havelock North lodge with only the celebrant and witnesses. It was truly magical after nearly three decades apart.
Jody with over 20 years’ experience as a sonographer, along with Rohana’s administration management background and passion for customer service, had a vision to create a boutique ultrasound clinic that would raise the bar in service and expertise as well as provide faster access to scans and any subsequent medical treatment.
“We’re proud of what we have achieved, despite many setbacks along the way as new business owners. We’ve gone through two COVID19 lockdowns and then Cyclone Gabrielle, but have remained true to wanting to provide a personalised and independent clinic. Since opening in March 2021, Jody has done well over 6000 scans and the couple are now celebrating the recruitment of a new sonographer Jana Furlan, which will enable the couple to have more than a long weekend break.
“It’s been really hectic and this is much to do with the service that we offer. Jody has so much experience and has a fantastic nature with his patients and being a small nimble clinic, we tend to say ‘yes’. “Word about our service has spread, and our customer base has grown, yet we struggled to find an additional sonographer to help, they truly are a rarity!
“But finally, we are fortunate to have found a new sonographer in Jana and like us, she has a similar personality and humour and is also from Gisborne. “Jana is awesome and has not only taken the pressure off Jody, but has also enabled us to have a good break away,” Rohana says.
It’s fair to say that Jody and Rohana have gone the extra mile for their patients over the last 2 years – often opening early or closing late as well as responding to many after hour emails and phone calls. “We have surprised a lot of our patients with our prompt communications. We have contacted some patients who have not even left the doctors yet after the Doctor has used our online referral system. This was something we developed during Covid as it was difficult for patients to collect physical referrals,” says Rohana.
The couple are proud that they have been responsive and got patients on a path to moving through the challenging health care environment in New Zealand. “The quicker patients can get a scan, the faster they are on their treatment and recovery journey.”
“Our referrers really appreciate the service we provide and how quick we see people. We are continually grateful for their loyalty in continuing to refer to us as without them we would not be here.
“The couple are equally proud of being actively involved in the community, both locally in Havelock North but also more widely. They have recently been the major sponsor of a cyclone relief event in Havelock North, helped arrange a new barbeque for the Havelock North Volunteer Fire Brigade (supplied courtesy of Bunnings) and are also a key sponsor of the Hawke’s Bay Magpies.
They even adopted four Kakapo in the Department of Conservation’s breeding programme. “We have really enjoyed being part of the Havelock business community as well as supporting the Magpies and HBRU players”, says Rohana.
Hawke’s Bay is renowned for award-winning wines, but super-sized table grapes grown on the Heretaunga Plains could fetch eye watering prices in high-end department stores in Tokyo, Japan.
In New Zealand 90 percent of grapes grown are for wine with 10 percent for eating, while in Japan it’s the opposite with a bunch of golf ball sized in-season grapes fetching over $100NZ. Shin Koizumi, is one of two Hawke’s Bay based table grape growers who are growing and exporting premium grape varieties to Japan, creating year round supply in the gift market sector.
For Shin he is reliving his childhood, when he spent summers picking grapes and cherries at his grandparents property in the grape growing region of Yamanashi. He would pick and pack the grapes and cherries into big crates to give to his junior school friends. “Gifting food makes people very happy, both for those that gift and those that receive and I loved giving my class mates freshly picked grapes and cherries.”
In Japan table grapes are like Bluff Oysters are to Kiwis – a luxury high-end seasonal product that excites consumers when they see them instore. Shin was looking for a career and lifestyle change, away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Tokyo.
As a successful real estate agent for Japan’s leading real estate firm Mitsui Fudosan, Shin was keen to go back to his family roots as a grape grower and put his talent for find a suitable property to use. He could see there was an opportunity for creating a year round supply of high-end table grapes by finding a suitable Southern Hemisphere growing climate for varieties such as Shine Muscat, Violet King and YuHo, all large seedless grapes under its Goku Shun brand to year round.
He first visited Hawke’s Bay in 2015 as part of researching potential southern hemisphere growing areas to complement the Japanese harvest season, spending time with Japanese grape master Tetsuya Higuchi who had established a table grape orchard in Clive.
Table grape growers Kumi and Shin Koizumi at their Maraekakaho property. Tetsuya is one of the top growers in Japan, producing table grapes for the high-end market, and like Shin wanted to supply grapes all year. Shin says after looking at South Africa, Chile, Australia and New Zealand, he and his business partners who established GREENCOLLAR decided on Hawke’s Bay.
“We wanted a more relaxing lifestyle away from commuting by train into Tokyo, spending all day in meetings and only making it home to get some sleep.” For Shin, it was about creating a new lifestyle – one that wasn’t blue nor white collar and instead a “green collar” lifestyle that his employers would also embody.
The core concept is living in a more human and humane way, in tandem with nature and the emblem of that idea is the GREENCOLLAR brand, which is a move away from notions of blue collar or white collar and advocating a new way of living balancing work, residential life and leisure. Shin and the GREENCOLLAR project team liked what they saw in Hawke’s Bay, it offered them the ideal outdoor lifestyle they yearend, after looking at many properties they settled on a 10 hectare Maraekakaho vineyard property in 2020. He convinced Mitsui Fudosan to go into partnership to launch Greencollar New Zealand Limited, the company that provides the cultivars, grows and markets table grapes under the brand name Goku Shun.
“We looked at South Africa, Chile and Australia too, but New Zealand as it is closer to the Asian market. The property purchase took until April 2021 to be finalised through the Overseas Investment Office and due to COVID19 and planting has been slower than planned due to labour availability and closed borders.
“We were very lucky that we had some kind neighbours that have helped us with the planting as well as introducing us to contractors to get posts in the ground.”
Hastings District Council economic development manager Lee Neville says the emergence of new food product and export market is exciting for the region. Council supported Shin’s OIO application with a supporting letter from Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst.
“We could see the potential of a new fruit product and brand into Japan, which is a relatively small market for our region up until now. Hastings and Hawke’s Bay have a reputation of growing apples, and producing quality wine but if we can diversify into new emerging markets, then this will have a positive impact on the economy. As well as table grapes being exported to Japan, the export of strawberries, which are being grown in a mega 22,000m2 glasshouse in Clive, by another Japanese-owned company Tatsumi NZ Limited. A glasshouse, which is about the size of three football fields can produce up to 10 tonnes of strawberries every month, equating to supplying millions of strawberries each year to Japan. Shin is confident that the Hawke’s Bay versions of grapes like Voilet King will be superior to the Japanese equivalent.
He says the Hawke’s Bay climate with higher sunshine hours, a wider range of high and low temperatures and ideal rainfall will see grapes that have 1.8 times more polyphenols and 50 – 70 times more resveratrol than Japanese-grown grapes. He also plans to use organic growing practices but needs to find an organic scientific solution for making the grapes seedless.
A noticeable visual difference of growing traditional style Japanese grapes, is the growing of each bunch of grapes within a waxed paper bag which is then covered by an individual weather proof umbrella.
“The secret to what makes our grapes so delicious is something not found in conventional grape plantations which sees the arrangement of grape branches carefully calculated during winter, and the leaves are scrupulously pruned and thinned to enable the grapes to obtain ample nutrients, creating a better flavour.
“Sunlight is allowed to trickle through gaps in the grape leaves making the grapes sweeter, more fragrant and darker colour. “It is a very old traditional growing practice that is very labour intensive, accounting for 70 percent of the production costs,” he says.
This coming harvest will see about 200 bunches grown as a trial test (will not be sold) and next year on peak harvest from (year) up to 180 tonne of grapes will be exported. Although currently hand-picked, Shin hasn’t ruled out robotics and has set out each row to be 4 metres apart, wide enough for automated picking units.
As production grows from both his vineyard and Tetsuya’s, Shin is already in talks with Hawke’s Bay Airport and air freight providers to fly fresh grapes direct to Tokyo within 24 hours. To make it financially feasible to export direct to Japan Shin has looked to extend the air freight service to include other Hawke’s Bay grown fresh fruit.
Bringing together over 10 different partners in holistic health & wellness, science and education, the Family Health Fair is set to be both entertaining as well as insightful.
The Family Health Fair takes place 22 June at The Blyth Performing Arts Centre. The event is particularly interesting for parents including their tweens / teenagers, health professionals, educators, philanthropists, and those with an interest in health & science. Activities are interactive and include measuring your body mass composition, enjoying holistic health massages, an art exhibition themed around mental health (including the option to bid for the art) and live music performances. Attendees can also have their family portrait taken by professional photographer Simon Cartwright.
Understanding the dangers of vaping
The main act of the Family Health Fair is the anti-vaping panel discussion by a well-rounded group of experts and led by Associate Professor Anita Jagroop-Dearing (researcher at Te Pūkenga, EIT). For more than 20 years, Anita was a medical scientist at UCL teaching hospital in London. She and her team are currently carrying out a programme of research to address the harms of youth vaping. This work focusses on the decision-making around vaping and identifying health-knowledge gaps, so that anti-vaping educational tools may be developed. This is a unique opportunity for guests to gain first-hand insights from the scientists, public health promoters, and school health staff. Parents and those interested can even submit their question(s) prior to the event here: https://hrf.co.nz/family-health-fair-vaping-panel-questions/
The Family Health Fair is an event organised by the Health Research Foundation – Hawke’s Bay. The foundation funds research projects which look to improve health in Hawke’s Bay. The Health Research Foundation has been around for 62 years – previously under the name Hawke’s Bay Medical Research Foundation. With its new name and local, holistic view on health, it invites people to learn more about the wonderful work done by local researchers and get involved or donate where they can: https://hrf.co.nz/
Canopy Healthcare’s radiology arm, TRG Imaging, is excited to announce the next step in its multi-million investment in clinics in Hawke’s Bay with the opening of a new Canning Road clinic.
TRG Imaging’s Hawke’s Bay General Manager Paul Toomey said it is the latest step to meeting a surge in demand for medical imaging and cancer treatment services in the region.
Mr Toomey said the new Canning Road clinic opening today includes a state-of-the-art $3m Siemens 3T MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine, supporting patients to receive world-class imaging resulting in earlier diagnosis and improved treatment pathways.
“It will provide doctors with advanced detailed imagery, resulting in faster and more accurate reporting as well as removing the need for our local community to travel further afield, often as far as Wellington and Auckland.”
“The expansion will be seen as some positive news when there is so much uncertainty and change in the region.”
TRG Imaging has also just completed a three-year redevelopment of its Royston Hospital based clinic in Prospect Road, Hastings which included new MRI, CT and mammography technology.
TRG’s parent company, Canopy Healthcare’s chief executive Tony Moffatt said the next stage is a new PET-CT and Therapy Centre, opening in early 2024.
PET- CT is an essential tool in the diagnosis and management of many cancers including melanoma, lung, breast, colon and prostate cancer. Previously the closest machines were in Wellington and Hamilton, a journey that TRG will ensure is a thing of the past.
Additionally, TRG has announced that they will establish a full imaging site including MRI in Napier in 2024, at a soon-to-be-confirmed location, thereby ensuring that high-tech imaging services are accessible in both major cities.
“As we have seen over the last few months, roading infrastructure connecting Hawke’s Bay to other regions has been severely impacted and our investment in medical imaging technology and service in the region provides peace of mind for those needing responsive medical treatment locally,” Mr Moffatt said.
The final stage will be the one-stop imaging and cancer care clinic at Kaweka Hospital’s Stage 2 development, opening in early 2025 as part of the additional 7,000m2 of clinical space including a critical care ward, local cancer diagnosis and treatment services and a cardiac catheterisation lab will offer a full-service imaging, consultation and oncology treatment centre.
Unison’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the internal appointment of Jaun Park as incoming Chief Executive of the Unison Group, from April 2023.
Mr Park, who currently holds the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Unison Networks Limited, has been with the Hawke’s Bay based lines company for the last 16 years.
Mr Park joined Unison Networks in 2006 as Network Development Manager before moving into the role of General Manager of Networks and Operations in 2010, ahead of his promotion to COO in June last year. He is a Director on the Boards of two of Unison Networks’ subsidiary businesses – transformer manufacturer ETEL, and RPS Switchgear.
The appointment follows a rigorous recruitment process in the wake of current and long-standing Group Chief Executive Ken Sutherland’s announcement last year of his intention to retire in 2023.
Mr Park’s promotion from Chief Operating Officer of Unison Networks to Chief Executive of the wider Unison Group of companies will see him at the helm of a number of companies specialising in delivering a range of electricity and fibre solutions.
Unison Networks, which is wholly-owned by the Hawke’s Bay Power Consumers’ Trust, delivers electricity to the Hawke’s Bay, Rotorua and Taupō regions and owns subsidiary businesses offering a range of energy related solutions through Unison Fibre Limited; Unison Contracting Services Limited; ETEL Limited; RPS Switchgear Limited and high voltage contracting specialists PBA Limited.
Unison Networks Limited Chair, Philip Hocquard, says he and the Board are pleased to have Mr Park step up into the role as Group Chief Executive of Unison. “There’s no doubt that Jaun has had an important role in enabling Unison’s sustained success and growth over the last decade.
“Jaun’s vision for the business, his depth of experience and knowledge of the electricity sector together with his commitment to delivering quality services to Unison’s communities and customers is impressive.
“We face some unprecedented challenges in the years ahead. In the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle our immediate efforts are squarely focused on restoring power to our Hawke’s Bay customers and communities and rebuilding Unison’s cyclone ravaged network. However, it’s vital that we continue to keep an eye on the future at the same time. The cyclone has demonstrated, in dramatic fashion, the heavy reliance that communities have on sound electricity supply for daily living.
“Our climate is changing, our regions are changing, and our communities are changing. As Aotearoa New Zealand’s energy future evolves, we know that the electricity sector will be required to do much of the heavy lifting necessary to support the Country’s transition to a cleaner, greener electric future. We need to be ready for that.
“Having Jaun at the helm will ensure that Unison continues to deliver great service to its customers, whilst driving towards the Company’s vision to deliver a sustainable energy future that enables our communities to prosper.”
Mr Park will transition into his role as Group Chief Executive over the next six weeks, officially commencing his position on 18 April 2023. Until then Ken Sutherland remains Group Chief Executive as well as supporting Mr Park and the business in his transition until the end of April.
Welcome to Oliver Road – a specialist estate agency focused solely on marketing and negotiating the sale of unique, high-value homes. Founded by Cam Winter in 2017, the firm has established a formidable track record and been responsible for many of the Bay of Plenty’s most notable sales over the past five years. Working exclusively in the top end of the market and representing only a select few properties at any given time, the Oliver Road team is known for delivering a world-class service that includes valuation, pre-market improvements, luxury furnishings, high-impact exposure across national and international markets, and strong negotiation in favour of its clients.
Transacting a total of $280m in property sales and representing an ever-growing list of astute clients including National Party’s Simon Bridges, Tainui & Ngāi Tahu Holdings’ Mike Pohio, AC/DC’s Phil Rudd and best-selling author Chelsea Winter, Oliver Road is now proud to announce the appointment of experienced local real estate professional Nic Goodman as Sales Director of our Hawke’s Bay branch, and to share the first listing in our Summer ’22 Collection – ‘The Gallery’ at 110 Durham Drive, Havelock North.
Nic Goodman
Nic grew up on her family farm in Central Hawke’s Bay and whilst this upbringing no-doubt contributed to her love of the outdoors, it was clear early on that her professional career path would take her off the land and into the city. A degree from Lincoln University lead to a stint on the West Coast of the South Island where she discovered a strong interest in marketing and sales. She continued studying, eventually departing the Coast with a Diploma in Marketing, a passion for sales and an aversion to torrential rain.
After spending time abroad over the next few years, Nic returned to Hawke’s Bay where she worked in a variety of sales and marketing roles and married husband of 25 years, Steve, together raising three children now aged 21, 19 & 16.
In 2013, Nic entered the real estate industry as a Sales Associate with Sotheby’s in Hawke’s Bay. Over the following eight years, she established a formidable track record – winning a number of coveted awards and consistently ranking highly among industry peers both locally and on a national level.
Nic was inspired by international real estate conferences, always exploring new trends, pushing boundaries with marketing, and striving to deliver better outcomes and service to her clients. In more recent years, she focused this attention on high-value real estate and, until recently, held the record of the highest residential sale price in Hawke’s Bay.
Some years ago, Nic identified Oliver Road – as a unique luxury estate agency with exceptional marketing selling high-end homes in Bay of Plenty. She set her sights on bringing Oliver Road to Hawke’s Bay and is proud to have recently formed this exciting partnership. The pairing of Nic’s highly-personable and trustworthy character with Oliver Road’s truly specialist approach to marketing luxury real estate is already proving to be a perfect match. Sellers of Hawke’s Bay’s most fabulous, high-value homes have waited long enough for an agency to deliver world-class service and superior results, needless to say – Nic Goodman & Oliver Road are here to prove that the wait is over.
Positive feedback takes Oliver Road to forefront
“Oliver Road is without doubt the absolute best in the business.”
“Their approach was simply extraordinary and beyond compare.”
“Oliver Road have reimagined the role of a real estate agent.”
“The most professional agents we have ever dealt with.”
2022 was a big year for Vet Services, with exceptional client growth, an increase in staff and significant investment revamping the small animals area at its longest established clinic in Waipukurau as well as opening a new super clinic for Napier.
Vet Services Central Hawke’s Bay clinic has had its biggest makeover in over 30 years, doubling the size of the small animal clinic as well as upgrading the staff room, meeting rooms along with a stunning external facelift. The Napier Clinic has gone a step further, relocating from a small clinic 50 metres from the to the new clinic to Napier’s latest large retail park, The Crossing.
To cap off 2022, Vet Services also took out two awards at the Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards – the Excellence in Innovation category and the overall Supreme Business of the Year Award, which it had also won in 2012.
Vet Services General Manager Brendan James says the Napier move has been a long term coming and will now offer a much broader suite of services including an onsite production vet service for the rural community. He says there was a lot of luck involved in finding a new site so close, literally a stone’s throw away. Brendan was meeting with the company’s bank when the premises issue was raised and how hard it was to find a new site. Their bank representative promptly mentioned that they were acting for the developers of the proposed large retail park.
“That was such a fortuitous meeting as we had been really struggling to find a new site and we were pretty desperate. There had been fast growth in the clinic due to the increase in companion animals and we just had no room. The Napier clinic has super-sized from 200m2 to 660m2, enabling two surgeries, a larger retail offering, a high tech Xray offering, animal grooming, a laboratory and a meeting room. “We’ve had our staff working on top of each other for some time which was making it hard to deliver the service with the best possible experience.
“Our staff have been looking forward to this day for so long. A lot of thought has gone into the design of both clinics and the Napier clinic has a paint colour palate inspired by American clinics to create a calming influence for cats and dogs.
Brendan says 2022 was a big year across the business that has clinics in Napier, Hastings, Waipukurau, Dannevirke and Masterton and it’s unlikely to slow down with plans for a refit of the Hastings clinic and potentially a new after hour emergency clinic to cater for the wider veterinary community. CHB Clinic gets first major redevelopment in 30 years.
The CHB clinic redevelopment was led by the CHB Farmers Veterinary Club along with Caroline Robertson, who has worked as a vet in Waipukurau for over 30 years along with support from head nurse Jess Neilson. Caroline says the refit was inspired by Vet Services’ modern Dannevirke clinic, which was the “blueprint” along with staff input from visits to other vet clinics around the country.
However, she says the design brief was kept pretty simple,“technically it’s about getting the right flow … it’s a bit like a big kitchen and everything has to be in the right place. The project was more than four years in the making and was on the back of substantial client growth, which escalated over the COVID 19 years as more individuals, couples and families became pet parents. “Small animals are great company and during COVID a lot more people got companion animals and in Central Hawke’s Bay it was no different. Caroline and the team had a very clear idea of what needed to be achieved. “We had already outgrown space due to having a lot more specialist diagnosis equipment, let alone the increased popularity in pets, which has seen us have twice as many people working in that area.
Caroline says the biggest challenge was operating a 24/7 clinic while in construction mode. The project was to become known as a ‘clip on’ in that construction would take place on one side of the building while the other side remained operational and then swapping over. “We’re a 24 hour seven day a week business so there was a lot of planning needed to make sure we could continue to operate and it’s pleasing to look back and see that we achieved that.
The new small animal clinic now has more of everything! There’s a dedicated x-ray and ultrasound room, two surgeries, four consult rooms and a fully functioning laboratory. “There’s also plenty of triage space while the public will notice the cosmetic changes with the buildings external experience getting an overhaul.
About Vet Services
Vet Services was first formed as Central Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Veterinary Club in 1972 with a small clinic in Mt Herbert Road. Until then there was no professional Vet Practice in Central Hawke’s Bay, with the area serviced by a private practitioner based in Hastings and supported by a local chemist. In 1973 the club purchased the present property and it built a clinic that has been added to over time. Today, the business employs over 160 including 40 veterinarians across its five sites offering expert care for companion animals, equine and service farms with sheep, beef, dairy, and deer focusses. In 2019 we launched an equine focused veterinary service (called VS Equine). The combined skills and knowledge of six equine veterinarians and three techs provide a comprehensive service for both the horse and our clients benefit.
A year-long water safety and learn to swim pilot programme created by the Hawke’s Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust and funded by Royston Health Trust will save lives and improve health and wellbeing outcomes.
HBCFCT Commercial and Partnerships Manager Greg Howie said 6000 primary school students aged from 5 years to 13 years will get free access to the Royston Health Trust School Learn to Swim and Water Safety programme.
HBCFCT has developed a unique programme that combines learn to swim with water safety skills.
“Our research has found that there’s a significant gap and therefore a risk of life by not teaching broader water safety skills at the same time as learning to swim.
“We know that many children get taught to swim in a pool to varying confidence levels but aren’t taught the risks of swimming, especially in open waters such as the sea, rivers and lakes, all of which Hawke’s Bay is renowned for,” Greg said.
New Zealand has a high fatal drowning rate compared to other Western nations such as Australia, Canada and the UK. For the past ten years New Zealand’s rate has been 1.7 per 100,000 of population and in 2020 is 1.62. In comparison, Australia’s per capita rate is 1.1 and Canada’s 1.3.
In 2021 there was 90 recreational (intending to be in the water) and non-recreational (no intention of being in the water) preventable drowning fatalities nationally and six in Hawke’s Bay. This summer has also been marred by tragic drownings.
“This is a ground-breaking programme that undoubtably will save lives and we are thrilled that Royston Health Trust is keen to partner with us to ensure that as many children as possible get access to the programme at no cost.”
Mr Howie said primary and intermediate schools across Hawke’s Bay have been invited to participate with the first intake at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatic Centre in Hastings which starts in the first school term. Already over 3000 students are enrolled.
HBCFCT Swim School Manager Harshi Dassanayake said the pilot programme provides peace of mind for parents and will teach children to understand risks with swimming in open water.
Children will receive eight lessons over eight weeks with a focus on being comfortable underwater, floating independently along with basic front and back stroke techniques.
All students will receive a National Water Safety Achievement Certificate and students starting the programme in Year 3 will get an achievement for five years up to year 8. It is hoped that the one-year pilot project will become a multi-year programme.
“They learn different arm strokes, and are taught how to keep themselves and others safe in and around water. Drowning is a significant issue in New Zealand and if we can help get kids used to water and teach them skills to keep themselves safe, it helps to reduce the risk. It’s all about making sure our tamariki are safe,” she said.
Royston Health Trust chair Jacqui Gray said the programme is an important investment that will save lives now as children but also as they grow into adults. Royston Health Trust is contributing up to $400,000 to the pilot programme.
“Being able to swim and be safe in water are important life skills that lead to better health outcomes as well as preventing drownings. Swimming is also a fun recreational activity and a rewarding sport with great health benefits and assisting our school children to learn to participate safely is important for our community.
“By making learn to swim and water safety free, it ensures that families that struggle to afford learn to swim classes for their children now have free access,” Jacqui said.
Schools are asked to enrol by emailing a registration of interest to contact Ally Hislop ally@hbcfct.org.nz
A specialist estate agency focused solely on marketing and negotiating the sale of unique, high-value homes, Oliver Road was founded in Bay of Plenty by Cam Winter. Over the past five years, the firm has established a formidable track record and been responsible for many of the region’s most notable sales.
Working exclusively in the top end of the market and representing only a select few properties at any given time, Oliver Road is known for delivering a world-class service that includes valuation, pre-market improvements, luxury furnishings, high-impact exposure across national and international markets, and strong negotiation in favour of its clients.
Transacting a total of $280m in property sales and representing an ever-growing list of astute clients including National Party’s Simon Bridges, Tainui & Ngāi Tahu Holdings’ Mike Pohio, AC/DC’s Phil Rudd and best-selling author Chelsea Winter, Oliver Road is now proud to announce the appointment of experienced local real estate professional Nic Goodman as Sales Director of its new Hawke’s Bay branch.
