Community organisations are under increasing pressure to be able to demonstrate that their programmes are delivering effective change. With drowning deaths down to 98 for 2009, and average for the decade of 116 compared to 181 in the 1980’s Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ) can claim considerable success with their education, awareness and prevention initiatives delivered to communities throughout New Zealand.

WSNZ knows its success comes from community involvement and have designed clear regional strategies for each of the 15 different New Zealand regions. While the decline in drowning deaths is great news, New Zealand still has twice as many drowning deaths per capita compared to Australia. With a high number of male deaths – 85% of those in 2009, and an increase in power boating related drowning as well as disproportional drowning deaths amongst Maori, WSNZ is able to respond as its educational and awareness programmes are flexible, continually evolving to meet changing needs and focus.

One of the exciting things for us at TechSoup NZ is the persity of organisations that are able to benefit from the donation programme and how the software they received has made a difference. For WSNZ the benefits have not only been with cost saving but have helped ensure improved operational capability for their regional staff.

“Water Safety New Zealand exists to reduce drowning and injury in New Zealand. As an organisation we strive to reduce all overheads to ensure maximum funding is spent on programmes and strategies that benefit the community. This generous grant of Microsoft software through TechSoup NZ allows us to do just that and ultimately help ensure that the important business of water safety gets done”. Alan Muir – Executive Director

“This software has been used to ensure staff can perform basic computer functions such as word processing, using various databases such as DrownBase and ensuring that remote users in Auckland and Christchurch have full access to the main server housed in Wellington. The donation process was well managed, easy to use, quick and immensely appreciated”.

Alexander Brunt – Advisor Policy & Planning