Four Northlanders received the Whangārei District Council civic honours at the Te Iwitahi civic centre.
Four Northlanders received the Whangārei District Council civic honours at the Te Iwitahi civic centre.
Four Northlanders who made significant contributions to their community have been awarded Whangārei District Council civic honours.
Marilyn Cox, Don McDonald-Spice, Jenni Moore and Dr George Perera have jointly clocked up more than 100 years of community volunteering.
The four received their awards from the civic honours’ selection committee chairwoman Jayne Golightly at Te Iwitahi (Whangārei civic centre) on Friday.
Golightly said a civic honour was the highest accolade the council could bestow on a resident.
“It is a genuine reflection of the aroha the community has for these four who have shown a care for others that goes far beyond the capacity of most of us.
Whangārei District Council civic honours' selection committee chairwoman Jayne Golightly. Photo / Susan Botting LDR
“Each is an example of the best each of us can offer to the community in our lifetime.”
The civic honours recipients
Marilyn Cox – for services to promoting Bream Bay community causes and celebrating local successes
The contributions of Waipū's Marilyn Cox have been underpinned by her 20-year ownership of the Bream Bay News, which she says is a unifying force for the area’s communities.
Cox says a properly run local newspaper plays an important role, helping communities to function well.
It is her mission to celebrate local successes, promote community and sporting events and, by highlighting problems, open the way to finding solutions.
She also instigated the Bream Bay Sports Festival as a member of the Bream Bay Trust and is a driving force in building cycleways and walkways across Bream Bay.
She is part of a group working to create a shared pathway between Marsden Cove and Ruakākā town centre and is a founding member of the Bream Bay Coastal Care Trust, which aims to restore native plant and forest vegetation across coastal dunelands.
Don McDonald-Spice – for services to education, sports and cultural enrichment in Whangarei district
Whangārei’s Don McDonald-Spice has been contributing to education, sports and culture for decades.
He has also played a key role in the Celtic festival at Whangārei Heads every summer as a member of the Gaidhealtachd Trust.
McDonald-Spice’s contributions to education, along with his wife Glenn, have spanned Whangārei and the Far North.
The couple’s Northland education career began in Waikare and Russell. They took up joint teaching positions at Waikare in 1989, where they taught for 18 years.
McDonald-Spice learned te reo Māori so his students could continue learning the language at Waikare School after graduating from kōhanga reo.
He served on the Waikare Marae Committee for 20 years and was a Russell Baptist Church trustee.
He was also an on-call volunteer ambulance driver for St John during his holidays and weekends.
McDonald-Spice’s education roles included Tauroroa Area School head of department Māori and kapa haka tutor. He also set up and chaired Te Whānau o Tauraroa, a group set up to support Māori inclusion at the school.
His sporting involvement included coaching Bay Cosmos Football, co-ordinator for Russell Football Club and president and vice-president of Tikipunga Football Club. He ran Whangārei’s social summer twilight football league and multicultural football festival.
The Northland Football Club committee member is now working towards a Tikipunga football hub.
Jenni Moore – for services to the wellbeing of health and social services in Whangarei district
Whangārei’s Jenni Moore has spent her life challenging social and health inequities and is committed to Te Tiriti o Waitangi through her work and voluntary efforts.
The Whangārei South Rotary Club president is a Paul Harris Fellow, the organisation’s highest acknowledgement. Her Rotary efforts include overseeing the set-up of Whangārei Hospital’s Te Kotuku maternity unit human milk bank.
Moore has worked in health and nursing leadership, Māori health contracting and funding, aged-care facility management and project leadership.
She has also served on several community boards including The Northland Aids Network, Whangārei Arts Promotion Trust, Te Puawaitanga o Otangarei Health Centre, Northland Urban Mission and The Old Library Board.
As a sexual health nurse in the 1990s, she worked with people with HIV/Aids in an environment of fear and ignorance.
Moore was co-founder of the Peer Sexuality Support Training programme, working with young people across Te Tai Tokerau.
She was also a foundation member of Whangārei backyard-trapping movement Parihaka Landcare.
As Cancer Society Auckland Northland organisation manager and equity lead, Moore led initiatives like the Kia ora – E Te lwi programme. This programme takes health-promotion messages to remote communities.
She is also an artist and foundation member of the Spectacles Ukulele Band and Stroppy Tarts art group.
Dr George Perera – for services to the health and wellbeing of Hikurangi and surrounding districts
Hikurangi’s Dr George Perera arrived in the area in 1977 and set up a medical practice.
Through his practice, church and school affiliations, the Perera family became an integral part of the community.
Perera has given 50 years of medical services to New Zealand, 47 of these in Hikurangi.
He has also supported the Hikurangi Business Association since it was set up in 2007.
Perera has been the only GP in Whangārei and Hikurangi to make house calls to his patients in his own time, on many occasions sacrificing family time.
His work is built on trust, respect and communication. He is described as being a steadfast pillar of support for those needing medical attention at any time of the day.
Perera’s community dedication to the Māori community in Hikurangi was also highlighted.
He is also known for his care for children and vulnerable patients, especially the elderly.
