PaihiaNZ.com

A volunteer ambassadors scheme is starting up in Paihia to protect tourists from crime _ and safeguard the Bay of Islands’ biggest industry.
The scheme is an extension of Paihia’s Community Patrol, in which volunteers have been keeping an eye on the town’s streets at night for the past 2 years.
Now a grant from the Ministry of Justice means the group can expand into daytime work geared at helping tourists.

Community Patrol co-ordinator Martin Crooks, a Paihia motelier, said the ambassadors had already started patrolling the town and visiting crime hotspots such as the car parks at Haruru Falls, Waitangi and Mt Bledisloe.
As well as answering questions and giving directions, the ambassadors distribute flyers with advice on locking cars and not leaving valuables visible.
They also informed tourists about liquor bans, so they didn’t inadvertently get into trouble, and upcoming events.
Like the night-time Community Patrol, the ambassadors were extra eyes and ears for the police and helped deter crime.
Steph Godsiff, of Business Paihia, is one of the scheme’s newest ambassadors after volunteering two weeks ago.
She urged others to put their hands up, saying the work was fun, she met lots of people and felt she was doing something for the community.
There was no danger and people could volunteer for as little as two hours a month.
``People keep complaining about the lack of police, but the rest of us have to take responsibility too. We do rely on tourists and if they leave unhappy, the word spreads and people will stop coming here,’’ she said.
Mr Crooks said it was a case of standing up and supporting the community, because livelihoods depended on it. In the past, Community Patrol had been funded by Business Paihia and sponsorship, but after an approach from the Far North District Council the ambassadors scheme was being paid for by the Ministry of Justice.
The initial $11,500 would pay for a six-month trial; if that was successful the Ministry was likely to fund it for three years.
The ambassadors were unpaid but money was needed for fuel, uniforms, flyers and other costs.
Paihia Community Patrol had 42 people on its books so far, but needed more to meet its goal of having ambassadors on the street every day in summer.