Every year, dedicated locals contribute an astounding 1.5 million hours of volunteering to the Waimakariri District. These volunteers are the unsung heroes who diligently work to improve the community, often without seeking any recognition for their efforts.

Mayor Dan Gordon says often the recipients are shocked when he contacts them to say they have been nominated.

“It’s just the nature of these exceptional volunteers.

“They do what that they do without ever seeking thanks and acknowledgment.

“That is why Deputy Mayor Neville and I enjoy these awards so much.

“We personally meet each of the recipients and get the opportunity to thank them and then share their story and achievements with the District. It’s a great privilege.”

The Community Service Awards recipients have collectively volunteered hundreds of hours to the Waimakariri District.

This year truly exceptional service was recognised with a Mayor’s Award to Jim Gerard.

Jim has given countless hours of service as a Member of Parliament, Deputy Speaker, High Commissioner, Mayor, Councillor, and Community Board Chair. He has been on numerous boards and is also a member of the Rotary Club of Rangiora.

It is also the second year the community's young contributors have been recognised with the Youth Service Award, which was presented to two worthy recipients this year.

This award was introduced by Mayor Dan Gordon in 2022 and is a collaborative effort between the Council and the Youth Council. It is designed to acknowledge and celebrate the significant contributions made by young people In the Waimakariri District.

Mayor Dan Gordon says it’s wonderful to see the depth of inspiring young people in the Waimakariri District.

“It highlights the importance of encouraging and supporting the next generation of community leaders and volunteers.”

This year for the first time there was also the inclusion of Environmental Awards, which Mayor Dan Gordon says Council was only too happy to include.

“This year we were approached by the Waimakariri Water Zone Committee, in fact by the chair of their Biodiversity Working Group Martha Jolly, with the idea of including Environmental Awards in our ceremony.

“We were happy to be able to do that and there were awards presented to the winners in three categories: Individual, Youth and Group/Organisation.”

This year there were eight recipients of Community Service Awards

A Mayor’s Award for exceptional community service and two Youth Service Awards.

The recipients were:

Mayor’s Award: Jim Gerard

Jim, along with his wife Mary have given exceptional service to the Waimakariri District spanning more than 40 years. Jim first received a Community Service Award in 2017 and was awarded the QSO for his public service. Jim has served the District as a Member of Parliament, Mayor, Councillor and Community Board Chair. He was the New Zealand High Commissioner to Canada and has dedicated many hours to boards and trusts.

Community Service Awards:

Jane Anderson

Jane has been a member of the Oxford Area School PTA for the best part of 20 years. She has helped organise countless events, including the North Canterbury Wearable Arts event which has grown from strength to strength. When Jane first established the event, it was her vision that it would become much more than just a school fundraiser. She has certainly achieved this goal and according to Jane she is only just getting started.

Michael Bate

Michael Bate has been described as the environmental conscience of the Waimakariri District. Michael’s passion in life right from a young age has always been the outdoors. In particular, his love of fishing and game bird hunting. Over the past 7 years Michael has been actively lobbying central government, local councils, Environment Canterbury, Forest and Bird and Ngai Tahu to see more done to prevent toxic chemicals being used in and around waterways.

Michael would like to see an end to the use of herbicides and pesticides.

Michael was a critical player in the discovery of avian botulism a number of years ago and bringing the issue to local councils to address. Avian Botulism is a significant threat to the life of all waterfowl.

Shirley Farrell

Shirley is a community champion in Oxford. Shirley dived straight in to volunteer work through Keep Oxford Beautiful, the Oxford Medical Support Committee and the Oxford Walkways Committee. Shirley served two terms on the Oxford-Ohoka Community Board and was a powerful community advocate providing a strong voice on major issues that impacted on the community.  After retiring from the Oxford Ohoka Community Board Shirley continues to support community events like the Christmas Carols and the Oxford Garage Sale. She has also been on the Board of the Oxford Museum and the Pearson Park Advisory Group and has served the community as a Justice of the Peace for 30 years.

Andrew Hide

Andrew has been a member of St John for almost 40 years. He was an ambulance driver in the District for 23 years. Giving his weekends and often weekday evenings on top of family commitments and his own business, to ensure they wellbeing of Waimakariri residents. Andrew joined the Rangiora Area Committee in 1996, becoming chair in 2002.

He represented Rangiora on the District Ambulance Committee since 1998 and managed the building of the new station. He was also an elected member of the South Island Regional Trust Board for nine years and has been an elected Chapter member since 2017.

He has given significant time supporting the Canterbury District Area Committee and wider membership. Andrew has chaired the South Island Regional Order Affairs Committee since its inception in 2014, only stepping down to take up the role of Chair of the National Order Affairs Committee.

He was promoted to Commander in 2013.

This year Andrew was made a life member of the Area Committee after 36 years.

Jo Kane

Jo Kane is a strong community advocate passionate about our community, the environment and our people. Jo was elected to Waimakariri District Council in 1999 and served two terms as Deputy Mayor. Jo went on to represent the District and wider region by standing for Environmental Canterbury in 2009 and was elected Deputy Chair. Jo also served five terms as a Board Member on Canterbury District Health Board. Jo was also Chairperson of Te Kōhaka o Tūhaitara Trust for 6 years. The Trust is responsible for the rehabilitation and management of Tūhaitara Coastal Park.

Bill Peck

Bill is a Band Master and Chaplin in the Salvation Army and is also a Treasurer, Secretary and Chaplin of the RSA. There isn’t a veteran’s ceremony in this District that does not have Bill blessing it with the opening prayer and playing the Last Post. He plays at retirement homes and hospitals, and he will stop on his many travels and play at lonely cenotaphs. Honouring the fallen soldiers of those small towns.

Mary Sparrow

Mary Sparrow has been a dedicated volunteer in the Waimakariri District. She is a member of Soroptimist International, and in her almost 40 years of service to the organisation she has been President, Secretary and Publicity Officer. She was on the Rangiora District Council’s Community Development Committee. Mary was a member of the establishment group, then a Founder, Trustee and Secretary of the North Canterbury Mini-Bus Trust, and in she assisted Presbyterian Support with a review of the need for future services for the elderly in North Canterbury. Mary was a member of the Waimakariri District Libraries Trust, representing the Trust’s interest in the building of the Trevor Inch Memorial Library and those of library users in submissions to the Council’s Annual Plans. In that time she assisted with the preparation of the case for funding for a new pre-school at Swannanoa, away from Tram Road, one of many funding applications Mary has prepared.

Greg Wright

Greg Wright has been a member of the Rotary Club of Rangiora since 1991. In that time, he has held various positions including President and Secretary. Greg joined the Rangiora Harness Racing Club in 1994, he was elected on to the committee in 2000 and has been president since 2013. As well as the service to Rotary and Rangiora Harness Racing, Greg has also been a trustee of the North Canterbury Mini Bus Trust. Greg drives people to respite care picking them up and dropping them off.

Youth Service Awards

Sam King

At just 19 years old Sam King has been a member of the Swannanoa Volunteer Fire Brigade for the past 3 years. He has thrown himself into every opportunity that has come his way. He is a valued Firefighter who reliably tums out for the community when the need arises. Sam has shown his commitment to the brigade with excellent attendance statistics for both call outs and trainings. The medical response aspect of the role was something that really inspired Sam, so he enquired about ride alongs with Rangiora St John. He joined as a volunteer in 2021 and has been there ever since. Next year Sam intends to become an EMT and eventually a paramedic. His dream job is to work on the emergency helicopters.

Sam has been supported and inspired by fellow Swannanoa Fire Fighter and Critical Care Paramedic Blair Andrews. Even when he is with people at the worst moment of their lives Sam, tries his hardest to make it just a little bit better for people. He believes this is one of the most important parts of the role.

Blake Thompson

Blake Thompson has been cleaning the family car since he was a toddler. Diagnosed with ADHD, Autism, and intellectual disabilities as a teenager have meant school can sometimes be a struggle, but with Blake’s determination he has found a way to overcome these setbacks and focus on a bright future. Through his support worker Blake got the opportunity to take his exceptional car cleaning skills and his eye for detail into the commercial sector, with a volunteer job at Morrison Cars in Rangiora. Every Sunday Blake will be at Morrison Cars, cleaning and grooming cars and soaking up every aspect of the industry.

As well as being an excellent car cleaner – Blake is also an avid lawnmower, having mowed the lawns of almost everyone he knows. Blake’s work ethic and diligence has meant he has a returning client base. As well as being a busy volunteer Blake also enjoys playing basketball in the North Canterbury Special Olympics Basketball team where has competed at Nationals. He attends youth group at the Rangiora Baptist Church is also a doting big brother to 4-year-old Kayla-Rose.

Environmental Awards:

Youth Award – Cust School

This award was accepted on behalf of Cust School by Andrew Burke.

A group of enthusiastic children wanted to improve the condition of a local creek which feeds the Cust River. The children cleaned the creek area, educated the entire school at assembly about their findings and gave them some tips to help keep the creek clean moving forwards. They are also in the process of forming an alliance with local farms to help plant trees and stimulate better conditions of their waterways.

Group Award – Oxford Dark Skies

The group award goes to the Oxford Dark Sky Project. The Oxford Dark Sky Group is composed of 22 local organisations (schools, rural, police, government, sports, businesses). Raul Elias-Drago is the Operations Lead and leads the application and compliance process. This involves going out in the middle of the night to measure darkness at 13 locations. Raul and the team have identified a number of benefits to the area of becoming a Dark Skies site. Including improved human health, protected wildlife and ecosystems and lower use of energy and energy costs as well as a boost in astro-tourism to the region. Oxford would become the 6th dark site in New Zealand and the 207th in the world.

Individual Award- Noelene Francis

The individual award 2023 goes to a true champion in environmental restoration and community spirit. Noelene Francis was acknowledged for her tireless work over ten years organising and inspiring the many volunteers involved in the restoration of Silverstream Reserve.