Walk2Work 2009 saw thousands of kiwi’s don comfortable shoes, leave their cars at home and take to the streets – either as first time walkers or as regular walk2workers.
Living Streets Aotearoa coordinated 12 events across the country – North Shore, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Levin, Rotorua, Taupo, Hutt City, Wellington, Nelson, Tasman, West Coast, Christchurch and Dunedin all taking part. A complimentary breakfast snack and often a free coffee were available at each event, as well as speakers and spot prizes. Walk2Work is a campaign created by Living Streets Aotearoa. Living Streets is the pedestrian and walking advocacy organisation for New Zealand.
The event received an amazing response with many people trying a combination of public transport and walking2work for the first time. TVNZ covered the story during their Breakfast programme, their lunchtime bulletin and the six o’clock news.
People of all ages and stages took part in the event; many bringing their kids along as they made their way to school and some as old as 84 turned out to claim their free breakfast snack! Participants also travelled astonishing distances to reach their local event – in Dunedin a keen group walked from Port Chalmers to the Octagon with Walk2Work signs attached to their backpacks! In Wellington walkers enjoyed a performance from Maori actress and classical singer Mere Boynton and on the West Coast business professionals canned their weekly meetings in preference of a group walk2work.
The 2009 event was a resounding success thanks to many local and national sponsors. Living Streets Aotearoa would like to thank: New Zealand transport Agency, Sustainable Living Aotearoa, SPARC, NZ Bus Company, Tui Balme, North Shore City Council, Taupo District Council, Bay or Plenty District Health, Horowhenua District Council, Hutt City Council, Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council, Canterbury District Health Board, West Coast District Health Board, Dunedin City Council.
Events occured in twelve locations:
- North Shore (Takapuna Beach)
- Auckland (Karangahape Road Reserve, near Grafton Bridge)
- Taupo, TBC
- Bay of Plenty and Lakes District
- Levin, Horowhenua District Council
- Wellington, Frank Kitts Park - see http://walk2workwellington.wordpress.com/
- Hutt City
- Nelson, Trafalgar Street
- Tasman, Richmond, Motueka, Takaka & Murchison
- West Coast (Greymouth, Westport and Hokitika)
- Christchurch, Cathedral Square
- Dunedin, Octagon & Museum Reserve
Walk2Work 2009 aimed to promote walking as a way for:
- people to improve their health and lifestyle
- us to clean up our environment
- us to support our economy (research shows that walkers stimulate local retail)
- our national road congestion to be diminished leading to much more efficient economy
For Transport Minister, Steven Joyce, speech see http://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/speech+walk2work+day+2009
To see some media coverage of the event please click here:
Walk2Work Christchurch http://tvnz.co.nz/breakfast-news/breakfast-wednesday-march-17-2560451/video?vid=2562083 (click on the regional roundup and go to about three quarters of the way through the video).
To views pictures of the events please click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/walk2work2009
Living Streets is thrilled to announce that they will be running a national Walk2Work Day in 2010 – if you would like to be involved then please send us an email: info at livingstreets.org.nz or call the Living Streets Office on 04 385 8280