As part of Road Safety Week 2023, Bike Northland ran a ‘Design your own Helmet’ competition. With four age categories 5-6 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12, entry forms were sent all over Northland. The winner of each category had their own design painted onto a bicycle helmet by a professional artist.
We had over 400 entries from more than 20 schools from all over Northland. Some of the designs were amazing, and the detail and time spent completing them were incredible. The judging team was made up of representatives from Northland Road Safety Trust, Northern Transport Alliance, and Bike Northland. Choosing a winner for each category was made extremely difficult due to the high standard of entries. As a result the team also gave out several prizes of ‘Special Mention’. These students received a prize pack thanks to Northland Road Safety Trust.
Special Mention Award winners were Balreet from Best Start, Harry Dickson from Back to Basics, Millie Frear @ Totara North School, Tegan Tissink @ Onerahi School, Geri-Girl Popata-Kuvarii @ Oturu School, Violet McQuinn and Marcus Nash @ Morningside School, Ripene Mane @ Pukepoto School, Zion Te Pou @ Karetu School and Gabby Pirini and Isabella Wagener @ Pukenui School.
The helmets were donated by local bike shops My Ride Whangarei, Missing Link Cycles, and Torpedo 7 Whangarei. The winning designs were taken to Brad’s Custom Paint Shop where Brad transposed the designs onto the helmets. The results looked amazing.
The winners for each category were Tegbir Singh Jajwandha from Whangarei Primary School, Mia MacFarlane of Onerahi School, Ava Willoughby from Karetu School, and Kyssari Hall from Pukenui School. These four lucky students now have their own ‘one of a kind’ helmet to wear with pride and keep themselves safe when riding their bikes, scooters, roller skates, or skateboards.
