HANDS-ON HELPING

There is nothing we enjoy more than giving back to the communities of our people – be they customers, staff or partners.

This is why we created the Helping Hands Initiative and why it continues to be our primary vehicle for doing good and lending a helping hand wherever it’s needed.

It is particularly gratifying when the helping hand directly relates to our own industry leadership.
Here are some examples of where our UPS expertise and our best-in-class product range have delivered exactly the type of help required.

Ferrymead Heritage Park

Preserving our technology roots

Our pursuit of increased efficiency, capacity, performance and profitability over the last century has driven technology forward further and faster than ever before.

In the face of this unprecedented progress, we can be forgiven for forgetting the redundant technology that provided the foundation or stepping stones to what we enjoy today.

So much older equipment and knowledge has been gradually left behind, but where it’s been preserved is often due to the dedication of passionate volunteers.

As a technology and expertise-based organisation – these are precisely the kinds of projects where we delight in lending a helping hand, so when we were contacted by Ferrymead Post & Telegraph Historical Society, we simply couldn’t resist.

Remembering where we came from
The New Zealand Post Office shut down its morse code system in 1963 and its telegraph service followed in 1988. Recognising the need to preserve these essential analogue technologies and equipment, Ferrymead Post & Telegraph Historical Society was established in 1970.

Located in Christchurch, Ferrymead Heritage Park’s Post Office building was altered to replicate a 1920’s small town Post Office, providing the perfect location for the restoration and display of the equipment.

The society’s secretary, Neale Graham says that safely storing the legacy equipment away would have protected it but would risk the knowledge and experience of its use fading away over time.
“By having the equipment constantly maintained and used as it was over the last century, new generations are able to get hands-on with how communications technology was used and how it has evolved,” he says.

Graham also points out that the fundamentals still apply and much of today’s communication technology is based upon the same principles.

“It’s such a great pleasure to see families and groups of school children throughout the year, not just looking through a window into the past but coming through the door and experiencing it,” says Graham.

More than a museum
The society team provides communication telephony and internet services to other societies within the Ferrymead Park environment along with technology and support to the wider park’s communication services such as the fibre, wireless and DSL installations that run the CCTV system.

It was this scaling of the park’s security system that prompted the society to contact UPS Power Solutions for a helping hand.

“Our assistance with the improved security system includes a small data centre for storing of security information within the park. Along with the communication systems, power loss can have a real impact on our operation,” says Graham.

Future protecting the past
The perfect solution was an Eaton 5PX2000iRT UPS that will deliver an added layer of surety and protection for some of the society’s, and the wider park’s, important communications and security infrastructure.

The society team also intends to showcase some of the New Zealand Post Office’s early computer technology which is particularly sensitive to power issues so exploring the opportunity for these systems to safely shut down will provide additional assurance that they can be preserved for kiwis to enjoy long into the future.

UPS Power Solution’s Managing Director, Nicky Blackmore says that every project the Helping Hands Initiative supports brings its own rewards and experiences,

“It’s continually exciting to support such varied elements of our wider community. Ferrymead Post and Telegraph Historical Society was particularly interesting because so much of its mission to protect and preserve technology resonates with our experience as a technology-based business.

“Organisations like Ferrymead are crucial in reminding us that the past will always have lessons to teach, fundamentals to remember and principles to honour. We couldn’t be happier to lend a helping hand to the great work they do,” she says.

Manukau District Cub Scouts

As spring begins each year, around 400 Cub Scouts aged between 7 and 11 years-old, descend upon the Motu Moana camp site in Auckland’s Blockhouse Bay for their annual Cub Camp.

Manukau Zone is Auckland’s largest scouting area and has hosted this event for many years and each time it requires significant planning, time and input from over 100 leaders and volunteers.

Activities on offer include abseiling, climbing, crafts, performances, team-building challenges, scavenger hunts, wide games and a 45-metre slip and slide.

Where UPS Power Solutions discovered we could lend a helping hand was in the slick catering operation and personal hygiene of the camp.

Ensuring 500 people can clean dishes and wash hands multiple times per day is no simple undertaking and the Manukau Zone has a full outdoor kitchen set up, including pump-driven washing stations.

Though well-maintained, the off-grid stations run on battery power throughout the weekend and as we well know, batteries have a service life and Manukau Zone’s collection had sadly run their course.

Thanks to a relationship with UPS Power Solutions, one Cub Leader knew of our Helping Hands Initiative and brought the situation to our attention. We were very happy to understand the load required across the event and the equipment being used to donate two CSB HRL12200 batteries that will prove more than sufficient to ensure clean hands for many camps to come.

We hope this year’s Cub Camp is amazing fun and creates many lasting memories for the Cub Scouts of Auckland’s Manukau Zone.

Manawatu Amateur Radio Society

Manawatu Amateur Radio Society is a community focused organisation that maintains equipment and capabilities in the use of HAM radio communications.

The Society’s members enjoy radio communications as a hobby, however in the event of an emergency or catastrophe there is a very real risk that modern communications technology could be affected.

The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications organisation (AREC) was formed in 1932 after the Napier Earthquake and since then, communications have been provided for thousands of emergency events ranging from searches to natural disasters to civil emergencies and for total or partial loss of telephone communications.

The word ‘Amateur’ in AREC means only that they are unpaid. Their goal has always been to achieve the highest professional standards. Members are drawn from every walk of life and all professions.

UPS Power Solutions perform a similar role in being prepared to assist communities in the event of an emergency and happily donated a collection of CSB batteries to the Society as part of its Helping Hands Initiative to support the excellent work they do.

St Andrew's High School, Tonga

St Andrew’s High School is a coeducational school with about 450 pupils in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. With limited income from fees and a small government grant, St Andrew’s finds it challenging to pay its way and school development is even harder.

The Hornsby Pacific Education Trust was set up in 2014 to improve the quality of education offered by St Andrew’s and help its students make the best use of their natural gifts.

The Trust works to improve buildings, equipment and infrastructure at the school. Trust volunteers have renovated school classrooms, kitchen, library and music room and have improved drainage, toilets and water supplies.
Students often help with the work while supporters have financed and donated many items of school equipment, particularly computers.

In 2018 Cyclone Gita devastated Tonga, including the buildings at St Andrews High School. Power surges and outages destroyed the school servers and network switches.

UPS Power Solutions is proud to have donated a UPS system to St Andrews as part of the rebuild after Cyclone Gita. The Nuku’alofa power supply is erratic and unreliable, and the requirement for a UPS power supply was even more evident following the damage caused by Cyclone Gita.