Safe Trust joins Mitre10 Stratford to help residents avoid April falls

April Falls is an initiative to prevent in home falls, originally started by ACC. Photo / Getty Images

You'd be a fool not to try and avoid falls, says Hannah Shepherd, community project officer for the Central Taranaki Safe Community Trust (CTSCT).

The trust is working with a local store to bring an initiative called April Falls back to life, she says.

"April Falls is an initiative to prevent in home falls, originally started by ACC. The trust is working with Masters Mitre10 to bring April Falls back to life, and continue our strong presence in injury prevention."

This year the focus will be on discounting selected safety items available at Masters Mitre10 in Stratford.

"All items involved in the promotion are targeted at preventing falls in the home. Night lights, security lights, outdoor cleaners, brooms, baby gates, platforms are all included."

People can also claim a $50 discount off any ladder.

"The discounts will be available all through April, or until the money pool financing the discounts runs out, whichever comes first."

People need a voucher which they can get online, says Hannah.

"Vouchers are available online after a short three-minute survey. They are available on our Facebook page or by typing this web address into your computer: form.jotform.co/safetrustprojects/april-falls-2019"

A full list of the items included in the promotion can be found inside Masters Mitre10, or on the CTSCT Facebook page.

Hannah says helping people avoid falls is really important.

"In-home falls equated to 67,875 new ACC claims in the Taranaki region during 2018. During 2015, 41 per cent of all new ACC claims for the region were due to falls."

The Masters Mitre10 car park will also be the venue for Safe Day, taking place on April 13 this year, says Hannah.

"This is a free event for the public to get anti-theft screws put on their licence plates, and have their names and numbers engraved on their tools, all helped by the volunteers at Central Taranaki Community Patrol.

"There will also be April Falls items on display, and people can also pick up some April Falls vouchers if they haven't got theirs already."

Safe Day will take place on Saturday, April 13 between 10am and 2pm.