Wellington Round the Bays named as finalist at the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards

Sport Wellington’s annual flagship event Round the Bays has been named as a finalist at the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards. The award recognises the 2014 event held in February, which saw more than 14,000 people flock to Wellington’s harbour to make their way around the capitals inner bays.

The event is a finalist in the Sport and Leisure category which last year, was taken home by local activity group Adventure Wellington.

The nomination follows a successful year for Round the Bays after being named as a finalist at the recent Wellington Gold Awards and in two categories at the NZ Sport and Recreation Awards in May, emerging triumphant in the Communication Excellence category.

The community awards are organised by Wellington Airport, in partnership with Wellington Community Trust and five local councils. They aim to recognise the valuable contribution of volunteers throughout the Wellington region, across five categories – Art and Culture, Education and Child Youth Development, Health and Wellbeing, Heritage and Environment, Sport and Leisure. Key factors in the judging criteria are volunteer input, utilisation of resources, innovation and creativity, effectiveness of activities and impact within the community.

While the Wellington Round the Bays dates back to 1978, the event has been organised by regional sports trust Sport Wellington since 1999. The charitable trust organises the event in a bid to align with the organisations vision that ‘everyone in the greater Wellington region has a life-long involvement in sport and active recreation.’

This year, over 300 staff and volunteers contributed on the day, in the lead up and after the event. Event Director James King says the event would not be possible without the great contribution made by the community. “A number of local residents, sports clubs and community groups volunteer a huge amount of their time to help make the event happen. Without their generosity, there is no way the event could continue to run each year.”

“The community really gets behind the event. They come out to cheer each other on and on course residents dress up their houses to show their support of those participating, it’s incredible to see,” adds King.

Winners will be announced at the Wellington City award ceremony, set to be held on Thursday 4th September at St James Theatre.