OAMARU MUM WINS LUMINO FIJI HOLIDAY

Oamaru mum, Joanne Prouting has won five nights in Fiji with return airfares for two, staying at the Sofitel Resort and Spa. Joanne, a long standing patient at Lumino The Dentists (Shearer Dental) in Oamaru took part in the company’s initiative to get New Zealanders thinking about their dental care.

‘I thought I was dreaming because I never win anything,’ laughs Joanne. ‘I’ve never been to Fiji before so it’ll be a nice break; I’m really looking forward to it. I don’t think I’ll believe it until I step off the plane though!’

Lumino The Dentists, the country’s only national provider, is concerned that people are storing up trouble by pushing concerns about their oral health to the back of their minds. Andy Tapper, Lumino managing director explains: `We’re trying to get people to come in and see their dentist so that any small problems they may have don’t get worse through neglect. With any consultation or treatment at a Lumino practice we offered the chance to go into a draw to win a fabulous holiday and Joanne is our very lucky winner.’

The Oamaru practice has recently added a second dentist. UK migrant Steven Fletcher is now working three days per week at Oamaru, including two additional late nights.

The latest initiative follows a study of over 18,000 people by the University of Otago in Wellington which showed that 23% of New Zealanders had put off going to the dentist in the last 12 months.

To find out more about Lumino The Dentists, visit http://www.lumino.co.nz/

CAMELSPACE PUTS CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE LINE

Leading event structure and scaffolding company, Camelspace, has constructed a giant washing line for an Oxfam New Zealand event. At Takapuna Beach in Auckland, Pacific Islanders waded out into the sea to hang up 350 T-shirts on the lines. Each shirt had the name of a different island printed on it to signify the insufficient action being taken to combat climate change.

‘It was great to be involved with such a worthwhile cause,’ says Phil McConchie, Commercial Director and co-founder of Camelspace. ‘We constructed the washing line out of specialist scaffolding material and also built submerged platforms for the people hanging out the washing to stand on. We were incredibly pleased with the overall effect. It appeared as if sea levels had risen so much that the Pacific Island residents’ backyards had been flooded.

‘Unfortunately, in some areas, this is already a reality. Hopefully, the 350 event and the resulting video we participated in, will go some way towards bringing attention to the damaging effects of climate change on the Pacific Islands.’

The campaign, ‘350 Islands for Change,’ was organised as part of the ‘350 International Day of Climate Action’, a global call to bring greenhouse gas pollution back down to a safe level.

A video of the event can be viewed on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_LVtiRyenI