They were: Cheryl Campbell, Phil Muldoon, Tony Baker, Diana Adlam and Terry Beckett. The winners were announced alongside recipients of the 2015 TrustPower Rotorua Lakes Community Awards.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said the Rotorua Lakes Community Awards and the TrustPower Rotorua Lakes Community Awards provided an important opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of local volunteers, whose hard work was not always recognised.
“The recipients of this year’s awards have been the city’s unsung heroes for many years but have somehow managed to quietly slip under the radar,” Mrs Chadwick said.
“They go about their business diligently, without any expectation of praise, however we need to let them know their work is appreciated and we value their commitment to making our community better.”
Cheryl Campbell has spearheaded Rotorua Professionals McDowell Real Estate’s annual fundraising for the Child Cancer Foundation for the past 15 years. As coordinator of the ‘Paint the Town Red’ campaigns, she organised auction items and donations for the annual breakfast and auction which has raised almost $300,000 for Child Cancer.
Phil Muldoon has been a firefighter with the Lake Okareka Rural Fire Force for 20 years, and fire chief for 15 years. In 2012, he instigated the Youth in Emergency Services (YES) programme. In 2013, a working group, of which he was involved, was established to deliver the first YES pilot programme in Rotorua. The pilot programme was so successful that the Minister of Youth Affairs and Civil Defence asked for it to be rolled out to other small communities across New Zealand. Muldoon was deployed to Canterbury to assist with major bush firefighting in 2012, and Australia as a crew leader to assist with rural fire fighting at the end of 2013. His fundraising efforts resulted in the Lake Okareka Rural Fire Force taking possession of a new first-of-its-kind 4WD rural fire appliance in 2013, and he is now fundraising for a new fire station at Lake Okareka.
Tony Baker has been a Rotorua resident for over 65 years and during this time has been involved with a number of community groups, and is a life member of both the Rotorua Car Club and Rotorua Stock Car Club. Baker’s involvement with Rotary since 1969 has been acknowledged with a Paul Harris Fellow from the Rotary Club of Rotorua and a Paul Harris Fellow from Rotary District 9930, covering Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay and Waikato. He is also a current committee member of the Rotorua Ulysses Motorcycle Club, a member and tutor of the Rotorua SeniorNet (president for four years) and trustee of the Rotorua KartSport Development Trust.
Diana Adlam has for past 15 years given her time to support the running of Parkinson’s Central Plateau. She has held various positions, including chairwoman, secretary, treasurer and funding officer. Now retired from an active role on the committee, Adlam is always volunteering for events and fundraising activities. She is also an active volunteer for the Rotorua Salvation Army.
Terry Beckett, a marine biologist and keen fisherman, has worked tirelessly for the Tarawera community since early 2000 to improve the water quality of Tarawera. He was a member of the first working party for the Lake Tarawera Action Plan, and is a current member of the working party for the Tarawera Lakes Restoration Plan. He is also a very active member of the Lake Tarawera Ratepayers’ Association (LTRA) committee. Since a LTRA grant was provided in 2005 to assist a summer student from University of Waikato to measure surface water inflows and collect nutrient samples, Terry has continued this work with a quarterly sampling programme. He does this work voluntarily, working with a professor from the university.
This entry was posted in General News, Steve Chadwick on June 15, 2015 by Phil Campbell.