Our communities were made even safer today with the signing of a Relationship Agreement between Neighbourhood Support New Zealand and Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
“We have seen more neighbourhoods having to prepare for and recover from fire emergencies recently, and with summer fire season beginning, greater collaboration between our two organisations is both timely and important,” says Tess Casey, CEO of Neighbourhood Support New Zealand.
The agreement, which was signed at Wellignton by Neighbourhood Support New Zealand Board Chair, Louise Grevel, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand Chief Executive, Rhys Jones, sets out the guiding principles, goals, and approach to working together.
With both organisations having a strong interest in community safety and resilience, the agreement was a natural next step to take to work more collaboratively to better serve New Zealanders.
“Many of our Members already have great partnerships with firefighters and stations and this agreement helps to foster and support those local relationships at the national-level. It will help us work together to increase fire safety and prevention actions and advice in our communities,” says Casey.
Rhys Jones, Chief Executive of Fire and Emergency New Zealand says, “We often turn to those around us in times of crisis and need. Strong and resilient communities can stand and respond to emergencies together as well as help each other to recover from emergencies faster.
“Neighbourhood Support continues to have a crucial role in preparing our communities to deal with emergencies and natural disasters. Having the opportunity to work more closely together and extend this to Neighbourhood Support’s network of 220,000 households is invaluable,” says Rhys.
The 3 key shared goals of the agreement are:
- Enhanced safety and wellbeing of our personnel and our communities
- More effective service delivery
- Improved technical co-operation
Meanwhile, Neighbourhood Support Hamilton’s Chairman, Gurbir Singh, has welcomed this new relationship agreement with Fire and Emergency, New Zealand.
“This collaboration agreement is another opportunity for us to foster our relationship with Fire and Emergency services as locally we already work alongside Hamilton Police and Civil Defence, in helping prepare our communities to be more resilient,” he says.
Neighbourhood Support is a nationwide community led movement that brings people and neighbourhoods together to create safe, resilient and connected communities. Over 220,000 households are part of our growing network. This organisations work alongside NZ Police and other partners to equip neighbourhoods to improve safety, be prepared for emergencies and support one another so that our communities are great places to live.
Membership of Neighbourhood Support is free. Click ‘Join’ at https://nshamilton.org.nz/
To learn more about both organisations including how you can be better prepared for a fire or emergency, visit: www.neighbourhoodsupport.co.nz | www.fireandemergency.nz/
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