Boxing trainer Anthony Warren honoured for work with Kaikohe youth

Anthony Warren has been awarded a Queen's Service Medal for his work with Kaikohe youth. Photo / Supplied

Anthony Graham Warren, Kaikohe
Queen's Service Medal for services to youth

A Northland man's mission to use fitness to steer Kaikohe youth on to a positive path has been recognised with a Queen's Service Medal in today's New Year Honours.

For years Anthony Warren, a power lifter and boxing trainer from Otaua, would see young people hanging around with nothing to do as he drove through Kaikohe on his way to work at a Kerikeri gym. When he drove home again in the evening they'd still be there.

That lack of opportunities for youth in Kaikohe compared with those in the more affluent east coast towns troubled Warren, so when he retired he set about realising his dream of converting a one-time pub into a boxing and fitness gym.

Te Mira (The Mill) opened in Kaikohe in 2010 and is now used by 500 young people a month. It is run by volunteers and is free for youth aged 10 until they leave school. It is also free for pensioners and people with health conditions such as diabetes.

The costs are covered by adult membership fees and business sponsors.

The idea was to boost young people's fitness, reduce health problems such as obesity and improve engagement at school while steering them away from drugs, crime and gangs.

Anthony Warren, seen here with trainer Ada Kire when Te Mira gym was named the Far North's top community group, has been awarded a Queen's Service Medal for his work with Kaikohe youth. Photo / File

Warren said the medal was recognition for the volunteers who worked in the gym day after day.

''I just happen to be the guy who started it. I'll get to wear the bit of medal on my chest but it belongs to a lot of people.''

It was also good for Kaikohe, he said.

''The big newspapers only call us when something goes wrong, but so much goes right. There's not a lot of money in this town but the support you get is as great, if not greater than anywhere.''

Warren, who saw service in Malaya and Borneo in the 1960s, said he was ''totally surprised'' by the honour and had no idea who had nominated him.

Keeping it secret hadn't been easy and he had to tell a couple of people before today's announcement.

''I'd be in trouble if I didn't tell my wife.''

It's not the first time Warren's work has been recognised — in 2012 Te Mira was named the district's best volunteer organisation in the Transpower Far North Community Awards.

Te Mira also works with police, Corrections, the courts, schools, mental health groups and the local medical centre to create youth intervention schemes, and partners with businesses to provide work experience and cadetships.