Youdrive featured on the front page of the Eastern Courier this week. The article, ‘On course for learners’, was also published online and includes a video about the Youdrive programme.

Youdrive is a new road safety and driver education programme that is being offered to secondary school students throughout New Zealand. Kevin Wall, the founder of Youdrive, identified a gap in the market for delivering driver education and training to young people and saw opportunity to work with schools to develop a programme that would deliver positive outcomes. Students from Edgewater College, which was chosen as the pilot school for the scheme, have responded positively to the programme and what it offers. The course is delivered on-site at the school and is also NZQA approved which means it can be taught through high schools as part of the NCEA curriculum.

On completion of the Youdrive programme, students will have obtained higher order driving skills and road safety education. They will also leave school with a practical life skill that will open up a whole range of opportunities for them in the future.

Click here to read the full article and to watch the Youdrive education video.

Campaign Overview

Challenge Trust is one of many New Zealand charitable trusts invested in paving the way for a brighter future and supporting those in need. A unique not-for-profit organization, Challenge Trust is a recovery-services specialist group which has grown from its initial sole facility to over 20 residential homes providing care to people with a variety of needs relating to addiction, mental illness, physical disability and rehabilitation, intellectual disability, and eating disorders.

Challenge Trust appointed Alexander Communications to assist with raising its profile as a leading recovery services provider and presenting to the public its new initiatives, service centres and programmes.

The AC team has been fortunate to work with CEO Clive Plucknett and his dedicated team at Challenge Trust. The team’s passion and commitment to their work and the people they help was evident from the outset, and this message is reflected in our work.

In September 2010, Challenge Trust and the Auckland DHBs launched Thrive, a much-needed service for the treatment of eating disorders in the upper North Island. The first of its kind in the region, Thrive’s opening in two buildings in Parnell, Auckland was attended by guests including health professionals, DHB board members and select media.

Results
For the official opening and launch of Thrive, our brief was to raise awareness about the centre and bring the service into the public eye.

Tact and sensitivity was crucial in our approach to a widely misunderstood issue. AC worked closely with the Ministry of Health and Challenge Trust to introduce key print and broadcast media to Thrive by arranging private tours of the facility and one-on-one interviews with Clive Plucknett.

AC secured feature stories on TV One News, TV3 News, and Radio New Zealand.

Coverage was also seen in national and community newspapers and in online media, including the Sunday Star Times, New Zealand Herald, Gisborne Herald and Eastern Courier.

The launch of Thrive was a great success, with child advocate Christine Rankin accepting the invitation to officially open the centre. The achievement by Challenge Trust of a substantial brief in a short timeframe was a proud moment for the Challenge Trust team and the many families involved.

The much-needed facility was well received by the community, and several local schools demonstrated support by responding generously to AC’s request for inspirational artwork for permanent display at Thrive. Coverage regarding this school support was seen in Education Today, www.times.co.nz, www.scoop.co.nz and www.infonews.co.nz

Additionally, AC recently secured the cover-page story ‘What business owners can learn from NFPs’ in NZ Business Magazine. Clive Plucknett was the subject of the cover story by Ruth Le Pla.

An inspirational leader with considerable experience across many industries (including a previous career with the NZ Police), Clive says, “The most valuable asset you have is self knowledge,” and advises leaders to figure out when they need to pull in someone else. “A lot of people are so busy being busy that they don’t step back and look around.”

Challenge Trust was profiled for a second time on the evening news, TV3 6PM, when Clive Plucknett was featured as an expert in the area of mental health and recovery. Appearing on two consecutive nights over a weekend, the two stories reinforced Challenge Trust as a leading recovery services and mental health organisation, with direct quotes from Clive.

Clive Plucknett has appeared extensively in the media on other occasions, and was quoted in the National Business Review, in ‘Depression the Silent Epidemic for Executives’. This article has been a valuable profile piece and has generated significant response from other executives direct to Clive.

Earlier in 2010, Clive appeared on TVNZ’s NZI Business with Corin Dann to discuss the topic of mental health treatment for high-level executives. His appearance reinforced the message of Challenge Trust’s leadership in this area of health, and highlighted the programmes available to assist those with depression.

To find out more about Challenge Trust and the services they offer, visit www.challenge.co.nz

In June 2010, Konica Minolta and the Vodafone Warriors launched the third annual League in Libraries programme in Auckland.

The Alexander Communications team was challenged to show kids that ‘reading and writing is cool’, and to encourage them to learn that reading is a valuable life skill whether they dream of becoming a rugby league player, doctor, firefighter or dancer.

Children were invited to write a short story or poem about their favourite Vodafone Warriors player for the chance to win a reading and writing session at an Auckland library with some of the team’s players. The four selected libraries that hosted League in Libraries 2010 were Pakuranga Library, Waitakere City Library, Glenfield Library and Manurewa Library.

Konica Minolta has received an overwhelming response from Auckland schools since the programme began in 2008. From just two schools, the programme grew to 50 schools (more than 500 entries) in 2009.

Each year, Konica Minolta has the tough job of choosing eight winning schools from the many entries. Not only do the students get to meet their favourite Vodafone Warriors players, but each of the eight schools receives two Canterbury of New Zealand rugby league balls and tickets to a Vodafone Warriors home game.

In addition to the library literacy sessions, League in Libraries 2010 included a surprise school visit from Vodafone Warriors NRL Reading Captain Jerome Ropati. Dropping by Northcote Primary School, Ropati presented overall winner Finn Nicholson with a signed Vodafone Warriors shirt, and tickets to a Vodafone Warriors home game for his entire class. Finn’s winning entry was a brilliant short story about the Warriors hat-trick win against the Brisbane Broncos which included colourful descriptions like ‘fighting over the ball like lions’.

Because League in Libraries Auckland received such a great response, there is consideration for a national campaign. To get the ball rolling, some of the Vodafone Warriors took the programme to one lucky Christchurch school – Central New Brighton School. Two classes were selected to meet some of the Vodafone Warriors players and take part in a League in Libraries activity afternoon. 

Results

The local community newspapers were very supportive and super-keen on the involvement of the Vodafone Warriors. We achieved excellent coverage in the Eastern Courier, Howick and Pakuranga Times, North Shore Times, Upstart Magazine, Christchurch Mail and Pegasus Bay News.

Popular children’s television show Studio 2 Live (TVNZ) were most interested in this initiative and sent host Matt Gibb along with his television crew to capture the action at Pakuranga Library. 

The clip included interviews with Vodafone Warriors NRL Reading Captain Jerome Ropati, team mate Michael Luck and stories read by participating students from Oranga School and Sunnyhills Primary School.