Social activist Pat Magill never gives up

PERSISTENT: Pat Magill, right, sets up for his 90th birthday celebration in September this year with Jerry Ersom Kaun. He is a persistent social activist.

When it comes to sorting out who in Hawke's Bay might be worthy of Person of the Year, Pat Magill is never far from the top of the list.

The Napier social activist would have been a worthy candidate for more than half his 90 years. And he's popped up again this year as Hawke's Bay Today and its readers recognise a few of those who shone in 2016.

On January 20 when he and supporters set off on another stage of his Te Araroa Offers Hope walks - which he started with the 102km stretch from Cape Reinga to Ahipara in early 2014 - it'll be a sign that he'll be in the reckoning again in another 12 months' time.

This trek, down the Whanganui River, shows the guy won't give up, even at a time when the number of Christmas dinners served to the nation's prison inmates will top 10,000 for the first time.

A cornerstone of his pursuit is the battle against imprisonment as a widespread form of punishment, but he says: "There's always hope. Don't give up."

He seems buoyed by the installation of a new prime minister in Bill English, along with the removal of Judith Collins from the roles of minister of police and minister of Corrections.

In 2011 Mr English told a Families Commission forum that prisons are a "moral and fiscal failure".

Mr Magill is gratified his commitment is recognised because it has covered a long time. This includes an OBE in 1978 for community service, and being a finalist in a national Senior of the Year Award in 2012.

Much of his dream has been driven through the entity of the Napier Pilot City Trust. It still is, despite the fact he retired in 2011.

Almost oblivious to that decision, he believes each step is another voice for the cause.

"We've got to keep trying."