MAY EDITION

What's new this month

Kia ora koutou!

It’s been another awesome month for us here at Kaitiaki o Ara. A busy April seemed to merge with a jam-packed May, but it’s exciting to have so many great things going on in the name of road safety.

This month we had some international connections going on with two of our young leaders connecting with SADD USA and Vic and Donna visiting Perth during Road Safety Week (more on that next month).

Speaking of leaders, our Leadership Programme applications are live, with 3 awesome opportunities going (details further down).

Obviously, Road Safety Week was a really big focus for May. You can read about all the SADD groups around the country jumping on board and running events and activities. Following on from our conferences last month, it is so encouraging to immediately see the flow-on effects of young people taking that inspiration and road safety messaging out into their schools and communities.

Keep up the good mahi!
Lydia

— Lydia, Upper South Island PDL

Positions are open for National and Regional Leaders - apply for a place on our Leadership Programme, or Māori Advisory Rōpū now!

Our interactive video has been specifically designed for rangatahi so they can experience something close to a real driving situation. We included influential factors within scenes like speeding and distraction.

We wanted to get people (young and old) talking about road safety. We also wanted their friends and family to be included whilst taking the opportunity to plant seeds of awareness and good decision making.

Participants choose which path to take and experience consequences if a poor decision is made. As a result, they are exposed to coping strategies, such as how to respond to peer pressure.

“The After Party” video can be used in multiple settings where youth are gathered. A follow-up discussion is an essential part of the experience. Ideally, young leaders will facilitate the sessions and follow-up discussions to influence safer choices and allow behaviour change.

Click the button below to learn more, access supporting resources or try it yourself.

Road Safety Week 2023 was a busy one!

We’ve wrapped it all up into one bundle. Read our latest blog below to see what students, schools and our Delivery Team did this year.

Nandini and Lida connect with USA for Global Youth Traffic Safety Month

Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD National Leader Nandini from Tauranga Girls and Regional Leader Lida from Epsom Girls Grammar recently joined in on an important conversation with SADD students in the USA. It was incredibly inspiring to see and hear our leaders connecting with like-minded young people from overseas.

This month we want to say a big Kaitiaki o Ara thank-you to:

CW - Auckland, KM - Chemnitz, (Germany), LR - New Plymouth, CW - Nelson, and AR - Invercargill for their timely contribution. Their donations came at a great time as student demand for our resources has hugely increased since we brought in our alternate name, Programme Aspirations, and refreshed resources.

We wrote to all and even chatted to a couple to personally thank them but also to find out more about their interest in road safety.

Once again - thanks for helping us achieve our vision.

Sandra Dacey (Upper North Island) email or call 027 279 3130
Renee Leabourn (Central North Island) email or call 027 239 6610
Bobbi Hutchinson (Lower North Island) email or call 021 761 649
Lydia Newlands (Upper South Island) email or call 021 624 198
Mark Unwin (Lower South Island) email or call 027 451 1253