Awards Recognise Kaiparas Volunteers

This year’s Kaipara’s Citizen’s Awards took on a slight twist; with the first ever husband and wife team, Barry and Robin Searle of Dargaville, honoured along with Mangawhai’s Betty Hawkes and Dargaville’s Neil Clements at the ceremony. The Awards which follow National Volunteer Awareness Week were first given out in 2001, and acknowledge people who have made a significant contribution to the wellbeing of communities and individuals in the Kaipara.

Mayor Neil Tiller, presented the Award winners with a special pin and a certificate, and their names are displayed on Honours Boards in the Council’s Dargaville and Kaiwaka offices along with past recipients.

“Kaipara couldn’t be the great place it is without our volunteers. We are lucky to have so many generous people who do so much for our community often with little acknowledgment or thanks”

says Mayor Tiller.

“The Kaipara Citizens Awards are a way to recognise the contribution these volunteers make to our community. There is no way to thank all of these people; they put in untold effort to sports clubs, youth groups, fire brigades, hospices, libraries, schools and other services, as well as taking care of the sick, disadvantaged and elderly, and championing environmental causes. The list goes on.” .

This year’s Award winners are real gems.

Barry and Robyn Searle have “worked tirelessly” at the Red Hill cemetery for thirty years according to their nominators. This has seen the space planted with native trees, scrub cleared, grass mowed, headstones cleaned, crosses painted, making the cemetery one of the best cared for in the area.

The Searle’s have also helped care for the dunes on Ripiro beach, planting pingao and spinnafex, checking on nesting birds. Their love for the beach even extends to teaching children about the area, as they run classes at Red Hill camp for both local and national schools.

Mr and Mrs Searle also help out at Dargaville hospital, filling in as cooks as well as gifting fresh fish and tuatua to patients while visiting.

Mr Searle has put in countless hours for the Te Kopuru fire service, and supervises youth sentenced to community service as they clean up playgrounds in the District.

The Searles are true all-rounders.

Betty Hawkes has been the driving force behind the Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Programme’s nursery for seventeen years, sourcing native pingao seeds, raising them and planting them to help stabilise eroding dunes.

Thanks to Mrs Hawkes and her team Mangawhai’s sand dunes are now covered in healthy pingao growth, helping to stop erosion and minimise silting of the gorgeous harbour. Mrs Hawkes’ aim of planting out a massive 25,000 pingao seeds annually was met, and exceeded. The Hawkes family even leased land to the Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Programme, so a polyhouse could be built to house the fragile seedlings.

Mrs Hawke has worked with the Department of Conservation throughout the project and “has really got the community behind it as well” according to her nominators, “she is involved in plenty of other activities in the Mangawhai area, and her ongoing contribution to the environment has been enormous.” .

Neil Clements’ life has been filled with community involvement from the 1970s to the present day.

He is the current Youth and Vocational Director of the Dargaville Rotary Club, helping young Kaipara residents with educational opportunities as well as allowing them to share their skills with the world on overseas exchanges.

Mr Clements has also helped select students to attend special development programmes from the Mini United Nations to the Summer Science School in Auckland. Mr Clements is also involved in Dargaville High School’s Community Scholarship programme, working on strategies to broaden Dargaville High School students’ learning options, as well as participating in the Northland Community Foundation Heath Endowment Committee.

Nominators describe Mr Clements as an “untiring and dedicated man, whose involvement with Youth Education in Kaipara should be recognised and applauded.” . Mr Clement’s wife Lynley was also thanked for her support of these efforts over the years.

Mr Clements has also contributed to Ruawai Primary School, the Arapohue Tennis Club, Federated Farmers and many other dairy bodies over the years. He has been a steward at twenty seven consecutive A & P Association shows. Quite a feat.

This year’s Citizens Awards also coincided with a special ceremony in which Mr and Mrs Searle, Mrs Margaret Te Tuhi and Mr Doug Carter were presented with tohonga by Waiouru Army Marae representative Clive Fremlin, to thank them for the integral role they played in restoring the marae’s carvings.

“Volunteers make Kaipara the vibrant place it is today” says Mayor Tiller “communities would be lost without them.” .