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We are the only emergency ambulance service in greater Wellington and the Wairarapa, and the only ones in the country who are free.
We are the only emergency ambulance service in greater Wellington and the Wairarapa, and the only ones in the country who are free.
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1300km hike to raise money for ambulance services
1300km hike to raise money for ambulance services
26 November 2020
Paramedicine student and Wellington Free Ambulance Event Medic Pim, has one goal: to raise much needed funds and awareness for Wellington Free Ambulance and St John New Zealand.
How? By hiking the length of the South Island, about 1300km, along New Zealand’s Te Araroa Trail with his partner, Sarah.
“To be a part of this whānau is pretty special,” Pim says.
Pim is currently studying a Bachelor of Health Science (Paramedic) at Whitireia and has been part of our team as an Event Medic since early 2018.
“Joining the team was a no brainer. I had met some staff through my student placements and everyone was full of encouragement for me to sign up. I was super excited to get out into the community and get involved!
“To support those who need our help is a neat feeling. I used to want to try and make the world a better place, and I feel like Wellington Free Ambulance is helping me do this one person at a time,” he says.
Pim explains that the goal is to raise money for the two ambulance services however, he also believes it’s important to raise awareness of the great work both services do to support their communities.
“Both Wellington Free Ambulance and St John rely heavily on their supporters to help operations continue and the high quality care to be available to those who need help.”
A Givealittle page has been set up to help with Pim and Sarah’s fundraising efforts.
Pim explains the money donated will be split evenly between both ambulance services.
“If people would like to follow us on our journey from Ship Cove in the Marlborough Sounds down to Stirling point in Bluff we will be documenting our trip on Instagram. We will try to update this as often as we can!
Though Pim anticipates the trip will take around 50-60 days from the start date on Saturday 28 November, he and Sarah aren’t strangers to this kind of adventure.
Pim has done plenty of hiking around the South Island, in particular around Nelson Lakes National Park as he grew up in that area.
He has also run the Milford and Routeburn tracks, and together with Sarah has run the Kepler Track, all in single days.
Together they have also hiked in the Tararua Ranges, Kaweka Ranges, Ruahine Ranges, and more.
In the past, Pim and Sarah have both also run trail marathons and ultra-marathons.