King’s Birthday Honours 2024: Les Hokianga dedicates King’s Service Medal to whānau

Kings Service Medal recipient Les Hokianga would be most familiar to Hawke’s Bay locals for his work with Hastings-based community gym Hikoi 4 Life and the creation of Hikoi Koutou Charitable Trust. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hikoi 4 Life and Hikoi Koutou Charitable Trust founder Leslie Hokianga says recognition with a King’s Service Medal is the culmination of generations of whānau looking out for the community.

Hokianga was “surprised and humbled” to receive the award as part of the King’s Birthday Honours, where he was recognised for services to physical fitness and mental health.

Les Hokianga would be most familiar to Hawke’s Bay locals for his work with Hastings-based community gym Hikoi 4 Life and the creation of Hikoi Koutou Charitable Trust.

The idea for Hikoi 4 Life began in 2010 when Hokianga travelled in a group about 300km in three days from Hastings to Wellington to present then Associate Minister of Health Tariana Turia and Minister of Whanau Ora Tururoa Flavell with a request for assistance to create his EIT wellbeing project.

Hikoi Koutou Charitable Trust supported getting young people into employment or training and provided the kaupapa Māori mental health and addiction service Mauri Tū Mauri Ora.

Hokianga described his inclination to help others as a “calling” in his whānau going back to his great-great-grandfather, Pōrangahau shearing contractor Thompson Hokianga, who had hosted people at his shearing shed when they needed a place to stay.

He gave special acknowledgement to his dad and grandfather for the values they had instilled in him as well.

“We are a big whānau and we grew all our values and manaakitanga from Pōrangahau,” Hokianga said.

“The philosophy of the Hokianga family has always been about looking after your whānau, hapū and iwi.”

He said there had been many satisfying moments throughout his work with Hikoi 4 Life and Hikoi Koutou.

“My proudest moment I think would be saving one of our rangatahi from suicide. That was myself and a colleague and even as recently as a couple of months ago we saved two ladies who were really struggling since [Cyclone Gabrielle],” he said.

“I think you can’t put a price on someone’s life and no amount of funding would ever replace that person if they had gone... If we could have more of these sorts of outcomes then I think our community would be in a much better place.”

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on the environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz.