Canterbury Local Heroes honoured

8th December 2016

Local Heroes honoured for services to the community

Everyday people doing exceptional things were the toast of the town last night as Canterbury honoured its very own “Local Heroes”.

As part of the 2017 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards, the 37 winners of the Local Heroes category were presented with their awards last night at a special medal presentation ceremony held at Addington Raceway.

Christchurch City Councillor Anne Galloway was on hand to present the medals. She congratulated the recipients on their award and said that it was vital that the community continued to acknowledge the contributions they have made.

“Many of these medal winners are unsung heroes whose selflessness has had a profound effect on the lives of so many in the community. Those acts of charity, optimism and commitment are the glue that hold a community together and as a community we must stand alongside one another and give thanks for their efforts,” she said.

The recipients of the Kiwibank Local Hero Awards for Canterbury were:

Rosemary Ensor

Andrew Brown

Amber Arkell

Christopher Walsh

Don Babe

Paula Wilkinson

Margaret Buckley

Dr. Rex Yule

Dianne Collins

Ally Palmer

Deborah McFarlane

Joshua Bird

Shelly Johnstone

Tristan Roberts

Judy (Tussock) Rendel

Margaret Kelso

Dr. Matthew Morris

Gregor MacDonald

Dr. Anna Crighton

Janice Tricklebank

Stan Tricklebank

Nicholas Sears

Sophie Pascoe

Jen Crawford

Pastor Murray Johnson

Robyn Wallace

Vicki Buck

Michael Curtis

Wendy Thompson

Collette Brown

Pam Ormandy

Ashleigh Cottier

John Thompson

Ian Ford

Duane Major

Adam Gard'ner

Mark Webster*

The Kiwibank Local Hero awards are now New Zealand’s premier community award and give thanks to those providing a positive contribution to their region, town, suburb or community. Nearly 350 medals will be presented nationwide over the next few weeks.

Kiwibank CEO, Paul Brock, said that Kiwibank was proud to be supporting local communities celebrate their outstanding citizens over the past eight years.

“New Zealand has a long-standing tradition of community service. It’s therefore equally important that we have a tradition, like the Local Heroes Awards, where we can give our thanks to those who have improved the lives of others in their communities.”

The 2017 New Zealander of the Year Awards are presented in six award categories. The overall winner for each category will be announced at the New Zealander of the Year Awards Gala in February 2017.

In December, the judging panel - comprising representatives of all the awards patrons, presenters, sponsors, community leaders and independent experts - will announce the 10 semi-finalists for the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year and supporting categories.

The categories are:

• The Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year

• The Metlifecare Senior New Zealander of the Year

• The University of Auckland Young New Zealander of the Year

• The Mitre 10 New Zealand Community of the Year

• The Sanitarium New Zealand Innovator of the Year

• The Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero of the Year

Media contact:

Nicky Barton, 0273 060603

For images and further details on the recipients:

Glyn Taylor, New Zealander of the Year Awards, 021 671799, info@nzawards.org.nz

Editors notes:

Mark Webster* was unable to attend the Christchurch ceremony so attended the Auckland Local Heroes ceremony on November 30th.

Canterbury’s Local Heroes

Rosemary Ensor (Hanmer Springs)

Rosemary has been a member of the board of trustees for the Hanmer Springs Forest Camp for 27 years. She has served many of these years as board chair and is also a member of the Hanmer Springs Community Board.

The Camp has endured number of challenges over the years including site decontamination that nearly closed it down. She has been a stalwart in ensuring the camp has survived these ups and down. This included the time after the Christchurch earthquakes where school camps were forced to be abandoned putting the camp in financial hardship.

Rosemary was involved in recent centenary celebration for the Soldier’s Hospital Ward and she has been collecting memorabilia for display in the old hospital ward. She even helped out as a volunteer guide for tours of the ward.

Through Rosemary’s work at the Camp and the work she does for the whole community of Hanmer Springs through the Community Board, she is seen as being an inspirational woman and a true example of a “Local Hero”.

Andrew Brown (Geraldine)

Drew has devoted great deal of his working life, both professionally and as a volunteer, to inspiring local youth through teaching and participation in outdoor education.

For almost three decades (until his recent retirement) he has been the head of outdoor education at Geraldine High School. Drew came to Geraldine as a science teacher in 1987, and with his background interest and experience in mountaineering and outdoor pursuits, he soon developed and promoted an outdoor education programme that was accepted as part of the student curriculum.

This was one of the first outdoor education programmes for secondary schools and it has continued to be held in high esteem both locally and nationally. In 2015, Drew was awarded the New Zealand Outdoor Instructors Association excellence award, the ‘Tall Totara’, in recognition of his long and dedicated service to outdoor education. 

Drew has been dedicated committee member of the Orari River Protection Group since its inception and is highly valued by his friends and peers for his gentle and unassuming way of solving problems.

Amber Arkell (Christchurch)

Diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 26 Amber has made it her mission to share her experience with others so they can learn more about the disease.

What began as a blog to keep friends and family informed of her progress has gathered almost 3500 followers on Facebook. ‘When things went tits up’ is Amber’s Facebook page where she shares video posts, updates of her journey, monthly reminders to self-check breasts and support for follower breast cancer patients and survivors.

On the 2nd of December 2015 Amber was diagnosed with HER2 breast cancer and just a week later began treatment which has included IVF treatment, a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy, a subsequent double mastectomy and reconstruction and Herceptin treatments.

Amber’s ‘Feel Your Boobies’ movement reminds her 3500 Facebook followers to do a self-breast check on the 8th of each month. The movement has not yet reached its potential and may yet become a major campaign for New Zealand breast health, saving many lives.

Since June this year Amber has also been an ambassador for Koru Care.

Chris Walsh (Shirley)

Chris has a passion for trees and the environment which began in Invercargill when he started a Business called Treetech. To fund his first chainsaw and ute, Chris grew vegetables from seeds to sell.

Chris has dedicated his life to trees and the environment, serving on the New Zealand Arboriculture Association Executive Committee, the International Society of Arboriculture New Zealand’s Chapter since 2009, where he was the 2014-15 president.

Chris was recently selected to join the ISA Board of Directors based in Illinois.

He is dedicated to supporting young talent and has developed and funded an in-house apprentice scheme to address the national skills shortage in qualified arborists.

Chris has also served the New Zealand Fire Service as a full time fire fighter.

Don Babe (Broadfield)

Don has been an advocate for cycling in Canterbury for more than a decade. This is evidenced by his leadership roles and proactive advocacy efforts for all things cycling.

He is currently chairperson of the Christchurch-Little River Rail Trail Trust, chairperson of Spokes Canterbury and treasurer of Cycling Action Network. Having committed countless hours in his advocacy efforts in Canterbury and further afield, Don is considered to be one of the most well-known and influential advocates for cyclists in the South Island.

Don’s commitment to service is evidenced by the extent of volunteer efforts.Through his role with Spokes, Don’s mission has been to promote the bicycle as a mode of everyday transportation. Spokes also maintains a vision that by 2020, Christchurch will be considered one of the top five cycle cities in the world.

Don has made a difference to the lives of many by enabling both children and adults in the greater Christchurch region to enjoy a fun, safe, bicycle-friendly environment.

Paula Wilkinson (Charteris Bay)

Paula’s dedication to the support of basketball in Canterbury spans more than four decades.

As founder of the Pioneer Basketball Club, Paula has served time as the club president, she has also run coaching clinics, school programmes and has been both a referee and a mentor for up and coming players.

Paula has been instrumental in promoting women's basketball in Christchurch with programmes and supporting Canterbury Wildcats Import basketball player Ashley Gayle.

Margaret Buckley (Rangiora)

Margaret is someone who has made a huge difference in the lives of many people in both Waimakariri and Christchurch.

For the last 24 years Margaret has been a chaplain’s assistant at Christchurch Women’s Hospital. The role sees her focussing on female patients in Gynaecology Oncology, and with ante-natal women who are suffering from complications.

She has spent time helping in the Rangiora crèche for Mothers Supporting Mothers on a weekly basis and was a mother help at Rangiora Brownies for two years and then held the position of leader for twelve years.

Each week for the past eight years, Margaret has been a volunteer reader at her old primary school, Linwood North.

On top of all this, she spent about five years as secretary of the North Canterbury Cake Decorators Guild and for twelve years was the ladies page editor for the national Jowett Car Club magazine.

Dr. Rex Yule (Amberley)

Noticing that the delivery of health services to rural communities was under significant pressure, Rex has set out to make a difference wherever he can.

Rex is a highly respected and much appreciated rural GP who has earned the love and admiration of countless people over his 35 years of service.

He has been a staunch advocate of the sustainability of services, and in particular ‘after- hours’ services. Illness, accidents and other health emergencies can happen any time of the day or night and Rex has always seen his availability after normal business hours as an integral part of his community contribution.

Rex is well known among his colleagues, especially in the practice at Amberley, for his often repeated mantras, such as “If you always put what’s best for the patient first, you will know what you need to do”.

Dianne Collins (Hoon Hay)

Dianne has been serving her community since the age of 12 when she joined the Salvation Army. As just a child, she would go to the hospital at the weekends and visit older patients who did not get many visitors.

After her daughter tested positive for Huntington’s Disease at the age of 18, Dianne has made it her mission to help with research and respite for patients.

Ten years ago she became the chairperson of the Huntington’s Disease Association of Canterbury. She has fought hard to get two houses together for a respite hospital for patients who are hard to look after at home.

Dianne is manager of the Harewood crematorium and also looks after the Girl Guide centre in Cashmere as well as volunteering to cook at the big camps.

Ally Palmer (Addington)

Ally has tirelessly led the Addington School Music School for eight years. In this role she has employed, co-ordinated and timetabled tutors for at least 20 children a term.

These students are taught drums, guitars, keyboards, vocals and more recently pacific percussion and hip hop. She has helped current and ex-students who she saw extra talent in and often feeds her students from her own pocket before rehearsals.

Ally also supports the kapa haka group in their performances and each year for the school she coordinates an end of year CD launch and concert showcasing all the school’s talent.

Ally is the co-musical director of the South Christchurch Music Festival and amongst many tasks, coordinates the band that accompanies the choir, preparing their chord charts and music as well as running rehearsals in the weekends.

Ally’s impact on Addington School is largely unmeasurable but can be summarised as eight years - 120 performances, 160 music lessons, 560 choir students and at least 12,000 audience members.

Deborah McFarlane (Riccarton)

Deb joined the University of Canterbury Hockey Club in 2010 as secretary and women’s club captain. She was a founding female member of the club committee after its amalgamation with the men’s club.

She quickly took responsibility for developing and communicating the principles and policies of the club. She introduced the club’s focus on providing “hockey for all” not just students. This change in focus opened up the club to international students, parents, novice players, masters and youth players.

Deb shows leadership through her positive communication with all club members, to create a friendly and welcome environment. This has inevitably built club membership from one women’s team in 2010 to eight women’s teams in 2016.

When the club turned 90, Deb organised and hosted a high end black tie jubilee. This included most of the club’s 1976 Olympic gold medal winners and had alumni from as far as Australia.

Joshua Bird (Christchurch Central)

In 2009, after the existing committee left Christchurch and the University of Canterbury Hockey Club, Joshua and his flatmates took over responsibility for the club.

The women’s club owed $700 and had no money. The men’s club had $900 and no equipment. Josh merged the two clubs to make one viable club. With Josh’s accounting knowledge, the treasurer and Josh created a custom database that combined accounting functions with player registrations and other key administration components.

In the time since, Josh’s plans have added sustainability, structure and strategy to the club.

Josh is a board member of Canterbury Hockey and has been the driving factor behind the reform of health and safety within the regional organisation.

Shelly Johnstone (Bishopdale)

Shelly has dedicated herself to furthering community sport in Christchurch, Canterbury and New Zealand for more than 20 years.

Having held a number of different roles over the years, she is currently the module co-ordinator of a 135 team touch module, the president of the Merlins Netball Club, and a New Zealand Touch team manager. In addition to these volunteer roles, she is paid to work 20 hours per week for Touch Canterbury but works many more in a volunteer capacity.

Well connected and respected, Shelly has changed the lives of many young people through mentoring, coaching and supporting.

Shelly’s involvement with the Papanui Merlins Netball Club for more than 15 years has seen her take on roles as a committee member and now president of the club.

She is a strong believer in ensuring sport is accessible to everyone, and along with the rest of the Merlins committee, is committed to making netball affordable for players and their families.

Tristan Roberts (Northwood)

Tristan is an outstanding supporter in the voluntary sector, having spent many years dedicating his time to various community groups in New Zealand.

This has included the New Zealand Fire Service where he previously served as a volunteer senior station officer for more than 10 years and as a member of St John Ambulance as an ambulance officer.

He is also a serving and warranted Honorary Fishery Officer, committing more than 1000 hours each year for the Ministry for Primary Industries. He plays a very important role in patrolling New Zealand's coastline and helping preserve fisheries for future generations.

Tristan is philanthropic and he has provided support to various community groups such as the R13 Trust, which was established to meet the needs of young people, who are at risk of criminal offending.

He also provides various scholarships to high schools, supporting those less fortunate into tertiary study.

Judy Rendell (Oxford)

For more than 19 years Judy has been a real 'life saver' to the local community with her free 'sober driver' service.

Her contribution to the local community offering free rides for those who are intoxicated has undoubtedly saved lives over the years.

At any time of the night, locals in the community will call or text Judy with their location. She will turn up with soft drink, bottles of water and blankets to ensure that everyone gets home safely.

A local business even provides Judy with a van to use to transport her passengers around.

She is invaluable in a town without a taxi service and keeps drunk drivers off the road.

Margaret Kelso (New Brighton)

Margaret has been dedicated to supporting her local community for most of her 73 years.

Showing leadership from a young age, Margaret has been involved in many community groups and volunteer organisations including Girl Guides, Girls Brigade, Plunket, school committees and boards leading the fund raising for many key projects.

She has held positions on a number of committees including The New Brighton Community Committee, The New Brighton Main Street Committee, The New Brighton Project Committee, Pegasus Charitable Trust Board, The New Brighton Pier and Foreshore Society, The New Brighton Pier Fundraising Committee, New Brighton Business Association, New Brighton Senior Net Set Up Committee, The Handiscope Organization and The New Brighton Museum.

The New Brighton Museum was set up in the early 2000’s and needed a home, so Margaret bought one, an old church building. The Museum would not exist if it wasn’t for her commitment.

Dr. Matthew Morris (South New Brighton)

Matt is an inspiration to everyone he encounters. His passion for community food is incredible and he is making a huge difference to the Christchurch community.

Matt has successfully established organic, edible community gardens in Christchurch's red zones, such as Otakoro Orchard. Matt provides the community with their own organic food source and also gives people the opportunity to work in organic horticulture.

This involvement empowers people with purpose, teaches them incredible skills and feeds the community quality food.

His vision for the future of the project is incredible and he has already achieved so much.

Gregor MacDonald (Ferrymead)

For the past 26 years, Gregor has been a volunteer for Trees for Canterbury. Gregor has Downs Syndrome but has been volunteering his time for Trees for Canterbury three days per week, taking responsibility for their recycling effort.

Trees for Canterbury recycles disused 1L milk cartons, these are used as growing containers for native seedlings with nearly 1,000,000 going to projects in Canterbury.

Gregor trims these cartons to prepare them for use and works tirelessly to ensure a continuous supply of cartons.

Gregor is a caring, loving individual who has a great passion to work, he is a local hero to the team at Trees for Canterbury and the rest of the region.

Mark Webster (Hornby)*

Mark has been a community pharmacist for 25 years and established Stay Well Pharmacy in June 2001. He continues to step outside of the four walls of his own pharmacy to provide support and mentoring to young and not-so young pharmacists.

Other contributions to the community include working at Pegasus Health during the first week after the February 22nd Christchurch earthquake providing support and coordinated help to Canterbury pharmacies, training of 11 interns since becoming a pharmacy owner, initiating the Community Pharmacy Codeine alert system (which is being implemented throughout New Zealand) and the development of a template with WINZ to help patients apply for funding for medications.

Mark was an inaugural committee member of the Canterbury Community Pharmacy Group, is current chair for the Pharmaceutical Services Limited board, was an expert advisor to the Health and Disability Commissioner and founder and moderator of the New Zealand Community Pharmacy chat group.

Mark has helped establish two karate schools in Christchurch which specialise in taking children with behavioural problems or learning/self-confidence difficulties, and helping them find solutions to these difficulties through the discipline of martial arts.

Dr. Anna Crighton (Christchurch Central)

Anna has a proven record as a staunch heritage advocate and is committed to the conservation of New Zealand’s bi-cultural heritage.

In 2011, she was appointed chair of the Canterbury Earthquake Heritage Buildings Fund Trust as well as president of Historic Places Aotearoa.

Anna was a Christchurch City Councillor for twelve years, during which time she chaired the Arts Culture and Heritage Committee, she was a director and chair of the Christchurch Arts Centre Board and established the Christchurch Heritage Trust of which she is still a director.

She has been a member of the Theatre Royal Charitable Trust since 2001, is on the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings Advisory Committee. Anna was awarded the Queen’s Service Order for Public Service in 2005.

Awarded in 2012, Anna is the proud holder of a University of Otago PHD with distinction for her thesis ‘The selection and presentation culture of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand, 1932-2002’.

Janice & Stan Tricklebank (Woolston)

Since retiring from employment with the Salvation Army more than ten years ago, Janice and Stan have been working with 0800 Hungry.

Janice has the ability to recover and repackage food from a variety of sources for redistribution as food parcels. She also supports and teaches those with cerebral palsy.

Stan who is battling his own poor health refuses to let the odds beat him and contributes 12 hours each week to 0800 Hungry. Their relentless commitment to serving their community has meant so much to the people of Christchurch.

They are a salt of the earth couple who will continue to spend their remaining days serving their community.

Nicholas Sears (Redwood)

Nick has been a volunteer with Coastguard since September 2002, has his Coastguard ISC Master Certificate and has completed all the qualifications for the Search & Rescue Coordinators role.

Nick is dedicated to the welfare of his fellow volunteers and the safety of the public. He is respected by his peers and always takes up whatever position within the team is needed to contribute to its success.

Nick is also a rescue vessel Master and his contribution to the Police Marine Incident Management Team has been invaluable.

Nick has pioneered the use of the NZSAR SARnet system for incident management. This enables all parties involved in the incident to log into the system and view the activity logs and tasking’s in real time. This has been welcomed by Police and others and has revolutionised the way that marine incidents are managed in Canterbury.

Nick is the 2016 Coastguard Southern Region Communications & Incident Management Volunteer of the Year.

Sophie Pascoe (Christchurch Central)

During the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, 23-year-old Para-Swimmer Sophie entered the record books as the most decorated Paralympian in New Zealand sporting history. She now has a total of 15 Paralympic medals across three Paralympic Games including nine gold and five silver.

Sophie has become a leader in raising awareness of Para-Sport, changing public perceptions of disability and inspiring young disabled people to follow their dreams.

She is particularly active in Canterbury, where she is a regular motivational speaker at local schools, community groups and charity organisations. Sophie is an ambassador for Ronald McDonald House and in this role she visits children staying in Ronald McDonald House and attends events to raise awareness for the charity.

Sophie is also an ambassador for Westpac, a roles which sees her visiting schools to share her knowledge on the benefits of good nutrition, regular exercise and mental wellbeing as well as her tips for goal-setting and facing adversity.

Sophie has had a keen interest in the redevelopment of Christchurch, and supporting and encouraging youth in her home town. She attends school assemblies, openings of school pools, gives swimming lessons and encourages youth with the message that anyone can achieve what they set their mind to.

Jen Crawford (Christchurch Central)

Jen’s dedication, commitment and leadership are one of the key reasons the people of Christchurch are able to continue to celebrate and enjoy one of New Zealand’s cultural landmarks, The Arts Centre of Christchurch.

Following the Christchurch earthquakes, Jen has worked tirelessly as chair of the Arts Centre Trust Board. Her vision for the development of the organisation and strong advocacy on its behalf has ensured the trust is in the best position to preserve and protect its collection of heritage buildings.

All of the work undertaken by Jen personally for the Arts Centre is unpaid, and must be juggled with her law practice and her other community commitments, including her role as a board member for Regenerate Christchurch.

In addition to her work on the Arts Centre Trust Board, Jen has made a regular practice of mentoring young women in both career development and in supporting opportunities for women to take on governance roles.

Pastor Murray Johnson (Aranui)

Pastor Murray has been a volunteer from the first week 0800 Hungry opened in November 2001.

He initially carried out two parcel runs a week until the last 12 months when it was reduced to one and has delivered more than 6500 food parcels to families in the eastern suburb of Aranui.

Only rarely has he not been able to help those families in crisis and he is always prepared to follow up and attend to the emotional, financial and spiritual needs of the families. The connection that is made, is one of value and heart felt without judgment. Pastor Murray is truly a local hero and has been for many years.

Robyn Wallace (Kaiapoi)

Having lived in Kaiapoi for much of her life, Robyn is the current chair of the Kaiapoi Community Board.

She joined the Kaiapoi Community Board in 2007 and immediately became deputy chair. In 2010 she stepped up to the role of chair during a tumultuous time in Kaiapoi’s history. Her work, has been dominated by earthquake recovery and under her leadership, the board has worked with the Council on town centre and riverbank restoration. The Trousselot Park playground and skate-park are also notable projects backed by Robyn’s enthusiasm.

Robyn’ has been a community board representative for The Pines and Kairaki Beaches Association for the past eight years. In this time, she has been a great advocate for the region following the earthquakes, particularly since Kairaki and parts of Pines Beach were red-zoned.

She has earned great trust in the community and is considered a local hero to many in the region.

Vicki Buck (Riccarton)

As the former Mayor of Christchurch, Vicki’s continued and extensive community involvements are unknown to many.

Vicki is cofounder of the Ministry of Awesome, a group of like-minded individuals that got together to make things happen in post-earthquake Christchurch.

She is a strong advocate for change in both education and the environment. This advocacy has extended to roles as a member of the New Zealand government's Science and Innovation Advisory Council and chair of the New Zealand Learning Discovery Trust.

She initiated the LIFT Trust with five schools in Linwood to create free tertiary education for students, was director and co-founder of Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation (a bio-fuel company using wild algae), co-founded Celsias.com (a website for business and community groups discussing climate change), was director and co-founder of Carbonscape and was on the New Zealand advisory board of Craigmore Sustainables.

Vicki remains a councillor for the Riccarton Ward and has had a positive influence on many Canterbury communities over her career.

Michael Curtis (Christchurch Central)

Michael is a well-known and highly respected optometrist, based in Christchurch. With 39 years clinical and business experience he is part of a Canterbury family that has been involved in eye care for more than 110 years.

Michael’s care and expertise has a huge impact on his patient’s lives. For some of them, without Michael’s input, they would be clinically blind and their day to day lives would be severely affected.

Some of his work has included complex contact lens fittings, patients with Keratoconus, corneal grafts and helping children with cataracts

He still also enjoys consulting in the field of ageing eyes and Michael will go above and beyond to ensure his patients visual comfort.

He is currently the co-author of a book about contact lenses ensuring his vast knowledge is passed on for future generations.

Wendy Thompson (Christchurch Central)

Since 2012, Wendy has been involved with Bellyful, a nationwide charity which cooks for and delivers meals to families with newborns or young children with illness.

From the outset of Christchurch’s Bellyful chapter, Wendy had a vision to take Bellyful Christchurch far beyond what the group of volunteers expected. She set about working hard to raise the initial funds required to purchase a freezer and cook the first batch of meals for needy families.

In 2015, Wendy enabled the establishment of a new branch in the Selwyn area due to increased demand for the service. She guided and nurtured a new set of volunteers and again shared her vision with a dedicated group of volunteers.

She has worked hard to network with other charities and community groups to raise the profile of Bellyful and facilitate fundraising. She has been instrumental in pulling the nationwide Bellyful branches together.

Wendy has created a cohesive and functional, stable charity, involving more than 50 active volunteers, which is helping out those desperately in need of assistance.

Collette Brown (Christchurch Central)

Collette has been working for 25 years for Home Health Education Services visiting people in need and offering them guidance and support.

Collette continues to go above and beyond in her role and when she comes across people in need she does everything she can to get their lives back on track or help them seek the extra assistance they might need.

Collette goes out to families who need help taking them groceries, books and clothing or driving them to and from appointments that they could not otherwise attend.

Collette is continuously giving back to the local community and is a local hero to many.

Ashleigh Cottier (Christchurch Central)

Ashleigh spends her spare time supporting mothers and families who have lost babies through her organisation - Maddy’s Memory.

Maddy’s Memory was Ashleigh’s way of turning the loss of her first daughter Maddy into something positive for other families. She meets families who have tragically lost their baby and makes casts for them of their hands and feet. Not only does she do this but she also does photography for the families as well.

Ashleigh has been involved in setting up a Canterbury Baby Loss NZ branch. Baby Loss NZ supports hospitals, educating staff on the experience of baby loss and providing support items for them to give to parents.

Ashleigh has been instrumental in fundraising to get the group off the ground in order to support families who are going through the loss of a baby.

Pam Ormandy (Sumner)

Pam has been involved with Sumner Redcliffs Netball Club and initially joined the committee in 2000.

She served as president from 2003 to 2006, before retiring from the committee for a short break. She rejoined the committee in 2011 and remains a valuable member today.

Her involvement with Christchurch Netball Centre started in 1995 on the management committee. She has since been involved with a number of committees within the centre and is a Centre Umpire and since 2012 has been a future ferns whistler co-ordinator. 

Pam has coached many young umpires, some of whom have now gone on further with their umpiring. 

John Thompson (Kaiapoi) 

John joined Coastguard in 2006 and has been an active member on the units board since then. He is also a volunteer shore crew member, the units Search & Rescue Coordinator and for nearly every rescue he is stationed at the base manning the radios, liaising with Police and working on search area determination.

John is also the unit president, media officer and a duty officer for the unit and Coastguard Radio Pegasus. This involves being paged at any time to make decisions on the urgency of a call and what resources are needed.

He has been involved in a number of other projects including the development of the Maritime Operators Safety System. He also identified that there was gap in community knowledge about Coastguard and set about raising awareness through presentations and talks to community groups.

John is the 2016 Coastguard Southern Region Community Relations Activity Volunteer of the Year.

Duane Major (Spreydon) and Adam Gard’ner (Prebbleton)

Duane and Adam made their mark as legendary New Zealanders when they rallied together 40,000 people to buy Awaroa Beach, to be enjoyed by the public.

The two inspiring South Island characters created a community spirit across all of New Zealand and turned the cause into a project of national significance. The results were outstanding and New Zealanders themselves were able to raise $2 million to buy the beach.

They captured the public imagination and reminded every kiwi that no matter how small a donation, they can make a difference to the countries future, for the benefit of future generations.

Ian Ford (Hawarden)

Ian has shown a lifetime of commitment to the Canterbury community as a leader in rural affairs.

His involvements have included chairman of his local Young Farmers Club as an 18-year-old and a member of the Ashley Pest Liaison Committee since 1991 and chair since 2005. He has been on the Canterbury TB Free Committee since 1998, on the committee of the Ashley Rural Water Supply Scheme since 1986 and involved with the Federated Farmers, Sefton & Districts Branch from 1976 to 2005.

He is currently a patron of the Northern A & P Association, long term member of the Canterbury Hereford Breeders Club and the Borderdale Sheep Breeders Society. Ian was a member of the Sefton Domain Board from 1972 and chairman from 1979 to 2008. He was also secretary of the Sefton Cricket Club from 1964 to 1970.

Ian’s other interests include the McAlpines North Canterbury Pipe Band as a piper and honorary vice president, the Rangiora Methodist Church and the Leigh Camp committees.

Nicky Barton, PR Consultant

nicky@blacklandpr.com

04 499 6940

0273 060 603

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