Pride of NZ: Selfless servants in line for honours

Silver Fern Maria Tutaia.

People who show kindness and freely give to others in need - without any expectation of a reward - are the sorts of people former news anchor Judy Bailey has always praised.

Bailey has been announced as one of several celebrity judges for this year's inaugural Pride of New Zealand Awards, which the Northern Advocate is taking part in. Radio personality Polly Gillespie and Silver Fern Maria Tutaia are also judging.

A long-time popular presenter for One News, Bailey said she was happy to be involved with the awards, which honour ordinary Kiwis doing big things in their communities.

She said those who gave up their time and effort to help various charities and community groups deserved the spotlight.

"People who volunteer, for instance at Hospice - to drive patients to appointments or to help in the garden or to run the kitchen. Those sort of people are totally selfless and they operate under the radar.

"These organisations wouldn't run - they wouldn't be able to do what they do - if it weren't for volunteers. I think we're incredibly lucky to have these people in our communities," she said.

"They're not looking for recognition and they'd probably be really embarrassed if you singled them out. But they just quietly go about helping other people."

Bailey has been involved with a number of groups over the years, including North Shore Hospice, Women's Refuge, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, World Vision and Seasons - a grief support programme for young people, run by the Anglican Church.

She said her parents had always pushed the idea of being kind and selfless.

"It's a funny old-fashioned word, but kindliness was always something that my dad talked about as being one of the key human attributes that he really wanted me to have.

"I've always been a firm believer that you get out of life what you put into it - not in any kind of monetary sense, but in putting your heart and soul into something. It's those people who I admire enormously."

Asked who her heroes were, she did not hesitate to name some of New Zealand's best: Dame Whina Cooper, Sir Peter Blake and Sir Edmund Hillary.

"I think their strength in character, their belief that anything was possible and their belief in the ultimate goodness in human nature."

The Pride of NZ Awards is a joint initiative with The Hits radio station, TSB Bank, the Herald and APN regional newspapers.