Special judges’ commendation for The Wolf Was Not Sleeping

The Wolf Was Not Sleeping is a bedtime story for young children whose parents are first responders working within stressful environments.

The book, written by Avril McDonald, has received a special judges’ commendation at this year’s Safeguard Awards. The concept for the book, which was developed by the New Zealand Firefighters Welfare Society, was initially intended for the children of Kiwi firefighters and was then customised for other emergency responders in New Zealand. Now, the book has also been published internationally.

The story was written to address anxieties that children might have about a family member’s role as an emergency responder, and to strengthen their pride in having whānau involved in an emergency response role.
 
Te Kei’s Welfare Officer, Kris Kennett represented Fire and Emergency and the NZ Firefighters’ Welfare Society in accepting the award, alongside Becky Hill from Police and Adele Saunders from St John.

Kris, who played a main role in developing the concept for the book, says the NZ Firefighters’ Welfare Society supported the idea from the inception, while Fire and Emergency not only helped from development to distribution but was also the first organisation to gift the book to personnel. 

Since the book was published, staff surveyed from Fire and Emergency, Police and St John have all commented on the value of The Wolf was not Sleeping for their families. It is now being published for emergency responders’ families in Canada, the UK (with a foreword written by HRH Prince William) and America.
  
Here are some photos from the Awards night.

Photo, from left: Award sponsor's representative Yann Teboul, NZ Police representative Becky Hill, Te Kei Welfare Officer Kris Kennett and Adele Saunders from St John.