900 South Woodlands Drive #06-01 Woodlands Civic Centre 730900 Tel: 6767 2288 Fax: 6219 1176

MEDIA ADVISORY  MEDIA ADVISORY  MEDIA ADVISORY  MEDIA ADVISORY

NORTH WEST CDC TO ENGAGE 4,000 VOLUNTEERS TOWARDS BUILDING A CARING AND HEALTHY COMMUNITY ______

Building a caring and healthy community was the key focus of the North West Community Development Council (CDC) in 2013, and the CDC aimed to engage 4,000 volunteers to channel their time, effort and expertise towards this cause. Dr , Mayor of North West District, would share how the CDC, through passionate and dedicated volunteers, worked towards building a caring and healthy community at the North West Volunteers’ Night 2013 held on Sunday, 17 February 2013 at The Republic Cultural Centre, Republic Polytechnic.

2 Hosted by Dr Teo Ho Pin, North West Volunteers’ Night 2013 was graced by the following Grassroots Advisers as Guests-of-Honour:

(a) Dr , Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC (Cashew)

(b) Ms Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Communications and Information, and MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC (Bukit Timah)

1 (c) Mr , PBM MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC (Zhenghua)

(d) Dr , PBM MP for GRC(Canberra)

(e) Mr Tay Teck Guan Patrick, PBM, MP for Nee Soon GRC (Nee Soon East)

(f) Mr MP for Sembawang GRC (Admiralty)

3 Volunteers play important roles in the North West District by supporting the CDC in its three key thrusts of Assisting the Needy, Bonding the People and Connecting the Community (ABC). In 2012, the North West CDC saw its volunteers double from 1,250 in 2011 to 2,880 volunteers today. The biggest increase came from youth volunteers, who doubled from about 470 to the current 1,000 volunteers serving the community, through initiatives such as the Youth Assembly, Young Leaders’ Committee, Youth Engagement and Support (YES) Fund and other youth-led projects.

4 Dr Teo Ho Pin said, “In 2013, we will be focusing on channeling community efforts towards building a caring and healthy community. Our corporate partners, grassroots organisations, partner agencies, schools and individuals have volunteered their time, efforts and expertise to reach out to our residents. This year, we aim to engage 4,000 volunteers towards caring for our needy residents and engaging more residents in our healthy lifestyle, arts, green and youth programmes.”

5 Annually, volunteers are appreciated for their efforts to serve the North West community. The inaugural North West Volunteers’ Night was held in 2011. Outstanding volunteers also received the North West Community Care Awards and North West Brisk Walking Clubs Outstanding Coordinator’s Awards at the event.

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