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Rotorua Group Get National Recognition

21/3/2016

Celebrating: Phil Muldoon, Steve Chadwick and Blair Gilbert

Rotorua group Youth in Emergency Services has received national recognition, being named the runner-up at the Trustpower National Community Awards.

The awards were announced on Saturday night at the 2015 Trustpower National Community Awards Dinner, held at the Dunedin Town Hall. The announcement comes after a full day for the 25 teams participating in the 2015 Trustpower National Community Awards. Each regional team gave an eight minute presentation during four judging sessions, as well as provide a 1000 word summary about the group.

Youth in Emergency Services was represented at the awards by Blair Gilbert and Phillip Muldoon, along with Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick and her husband John Chadwick. The organisation received $2500 prize money plus a certificate and an Exult consultancy voucher worth $500.

Mr Gilbert said they were ecstatic and humbled by the award. "You don't do this kind of work to get an award, you do it because it's right and helps make New Zealand a better place, but we are appreciative of the recognition for the hard work we are doing. "We had an amazing time in Dunedin and it was humbling to be around all these people doing other amazing things in their communities."

Mr Gilbert said the presentation was a "great team effort with others involved going right back to the start". "Even though it was Steve, Phil and I representing the programme, there are so many others behind its success - particularly the volunteer emergency service staff who were willing to think differently and dedicate their time to help it grow."

Mrs Chadwick said the programme was well received by other regions. "There were a lot of other areas who said they would benefit from this programme and thought it was fantastic. "Both Blair and Phillip did a remarkable job and made us all proud."

A brand new award was also announced and presented to Murupara Youth Leadership Projects Team from Whakatane District for being identified as a group with strong potential to grow.

The 2015 Trustpower National Community Award Supreme Winner was West Otago Health Trust from the Clutha District. It was also announced that Rotorua will host the 2016 Trustpower National Community Awards in March 2017. Around 160 people will converge on Rotorua for the 17th annual three-day event.

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Church Destroyed In Suspicious Blaze

16/3/2016

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Investigators at the scene of the Mamaku fire.

An "old pretty church up on a hill" that was more than half a century old has been destroyed in a suspicious blaze. St Peter's Mamaku Anglican Church burned to the ground during the early hours of this morning, with one person taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

Specialist fire investigator Jon Rewi said because the church was not a powered building it was being treated as suspicious. The case had been handed to police. Detective Senior Sergeant Zane Smith said police believed they had identified the cause of the fire and confirmed it was suspicious. "We are keeping an open mind and asking the public for any relevant information," Mr Smith said.

The fire service was called to the blaze on Kaponga St in Mamaku about 1.15am. The single-storey building was "well involved in fire" when firefighters arrived at the scene. Crews from around the region were called and between 24 and 30 firefighters attended.

A St John spokeswoman said a 52-year-old woman was taken to Rotorua Hospital as a precaution due to smoke inhalation. Mr Smith said police knew who the woman was and she was not involved with the cause of the fire. A spokeswoman for the Lakes District Health Board said the woman was treated and discharged.
Waiapu diocesan registrar Colleen Kaye said the church had been de-consecrated in 2012 and the local parish had not been using it. "They have been looking at selling it," she said.

She said one of the stained glass windows had been removed and put into St Barnabas Church in Ngongotaha. The window had originally been installed in 1951 at St Peter's to commemorate Mamaku families who lost sons and husbands in World War II. Mamaku Anglican churchwarden Diana McArthur said the fire was "extremely upsetting" for the people of Mamaku. "The residents had worshipped in there for well over half a century, we feel for them." She said the property had been on the market, but they were now going to seek advice on what to do next. A parish council meeting would be held tonight to discuss the next step, she said.

Mamaku resident Shane Hutchinson said the church had been there for years. "It was a pretty church, I live a street over and everybody at the school was telling me so I thought I'd come and have a nosy." Mr Hutchinson works at Mamaku School and said many there were feeling "very sad" about the fire. Another Mamaku resident who did not want to be named said it was a "great shame". "It was an old pretty church up on a hill... [I'm] feeling quite sad," he said.

Anyone with information should contact the Rotorua police on (07) 346 2968. Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Rotorua Volunteers Prepare For National Showcase

15/3/2016

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Blair Gilbert and Phillip Muldoon have just a few days to count down before they represent the Rotorua Lakes District volunteer community this weekend in Dunedin.

With the 2015 Trustpower National Community Awards about to kick off in the South Island, the Youth in Emergency Services representatives are confident the organisation's efforts will grab attention.

Mr Gilbert and Mr Muldoon will be taking the Rotorua Youth in Emergency Services branch head to head with the country's best and brightest voluntary groups and organisations on a national stage of friendly competition, where they'll showcase a model of volunteers succeeding at youth engagement. Mayor Steve Chadwick will also attend and support the Rotorua Lakes team.

The 2015 Trustpower National Community Awards will be held in Dunedin City this weekend.
The competition brings together 25 groups from across 27 New Zealand districts and the Wellington region - all are Supreme Winners of last year's Trustpower Community Awards, a programme run in partnership with local councils across the country.

The Rotorua Youth in Emergency Services came out on top at the Trustpower Rotorua Lakes District Community Awards last year, beating out 43 other local voluntary organisations for their efforts to increase youth representation in emergency services and, by proxy, community involvement.

Trustpower community relations representative Emily Beaton said recipe for the group's success laid in sharing responsibility with youth.

"Youth in Emergency Services has such a well-proven model.
Blair and Phillip are great representatives to share that with a collection of New Zealand's top volunteers this week.

"Getting our young people back into communities is what New Zealand's volunteer sector desperately needs - and encouraging them into assisting emergency services gives those youth, the teams they work with and communities who need them a concrete future," she said.

"This is going to be their strength on Saturday."

Joining the Rotorua Lakes contingent at the National Awards will be a host of similarly dedicated volunteers representing districts from the Far North, right down to Stewart Island in Southland.

In between a weekend of sight-seeing and networking, Mr Gilbert and Mr Muldoon will give an eight minute presentation on what the group has achieved and try to convince a panel of independent judges they deserve the title of 2015's Trustpower National Community Award Supreme Winner.
The groups will be judged on their presentations, along with a 1000 word summary of the organisation.

This year on the judging panel the Trustpower community relations team will be hosting TVNZ's Good Sorts presenter Haydn Jones and Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Jo Goodhew along with several other community and Trustpower representatives.

Presentations will take place over most of Saturday at the historic Otago Boys' High School, with an awards dinner to announce award recipients that evening at the Dunedin Town Hall.
The Trustpower National Community Awards Supreme Winner will take home a custom-made trophy, $4000 in prize money, a framed certificate and a $1000 Exult volunteer sector consultancy voucher. The Runner Up will receive $2500 in prize money, a $500 Exult voucher and a framed certificate.

"Whether or not this group takes home a prize, the Rotorua Youth in Emergency Services have already achieved so much. The weekend is about more than placing and what they have already built for Rotorua is what's really important," Miss Beaton said.

Meanwhile, entries are now being taken for the 2016 Trustpower Rotorua Lakes District Community Awards. Anyone can enter a group into the running and any groups or organisations with a volunteer component are eligible for entry. Entries close April 15.

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