Regional Leader leads the way!

Sep 4

Written By SADD

Te Whanganui-a-Tara weather put on a show with 100km/h gusts and rain on and off throughout the day. We wouldn’t expect anything less! This did however keep us on our toes with the plans for the day.

A collective of road safety champions from Wellington City Council, Police, ACC, The Motorcycle Collective and our very own Regional Leader Deklin Frew-Parks got together at Rongotai College to run a Moped and Motorcycle Safety workshop.

This is the second event of its kind after a huge success at Wellington College. This workshop covered basic safety tips for riding mopeds and motorcycles and was an opportunity for students to do their own practical checks on their mopeds. It also promoted ACC’s Ride Forever programme. This programme decreases the likelihood of a moped or motorcycle related crash by 29%.

I want to shine a light on the awesome mahi Deklin is doing as a new Regional Leader. Deklin is relatively new to the Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD scene but as a moped enthusiast with a big heart for community service he was quick to volunteer for this event. He prepared a quiz, spoke about the impact a crash has on a community as well as sharing a bit about his experience with the Ride Forever programme. He does a great job advocating for road safety from a youth perspective. We are super proud to have Deklin onboard our youth leadership team!

“I think the workshop went really well! The group seemed to really enjoy the quiz and the starter questions, which made the whole thing a lot more fun. It felt amazing to actually get the chance to teach my peers, and I think it worked because it was coming from someone their age. They seemed to pay more attention and be more interested since I wasn't just another teacher talking at them. Giving out lollies as rewards for getting the answers right definitely helped make it more competitive and kept everyone involved. Overall, it was such a cool experience, and I'm really glad it turned out so well!” - Deklin

Thank you to all the community partners who were involved, especially Riley from WCC who is the brains behind this awesome kaupapa!

Have a go at this motorcycle and moped quiz with your peers! Find the download below.