Unsung Heroes: Well-deserved holiday for Good Samaritans

Pictured with P&O chief Ann Sherry (3rd from R), are Phillip Chao, Emma Pratt, Vicki Culling, Stephanie Harawira and Roger Beatson. Photo / Richard Robinson

How they will be able to tear themselves away from their communities we do not know but the New Zealand Herald and P&O Cruises are sending five devoted community heroes on a 10-day Pacific cruise.

The winners of the Herald's second Unsung Community Heroes series which ran from March 3 until May 6 were awarded their prizes during a lunch at the Hilton on Saturday.

Ann Sherry, the chief executive of Carnival Cruises, which runs P&O in Australia and New Zealand, helped the Herald editors pick the winners and said it was an extremely difficult decision because all 98 entries were incredibly committed to their communities.

The final five: Roger Beatson, Emma Pratt, Vicki Culling, Stephanie Harawira and the young Phillip Chao who have diverse but equally humbling stories, are all extremely well-deserving of a wee break on one of P&O's South Pacific Cruises.

ROGER BEATSON

For Roger Beatson the cruise will be a chance to revisit a tuberculosis hospital he helped build in Vanuatu in 1998.

It will also be the first holiday the 64-year-old go-getter from Ahipara and his wife of 42 years, Iri, have had in a long time.

Mr Beatson, a school caretaker in Kaitaia, a father of four and a grandfather of six, has clocked up the equivalent of 204 years of service to his community.

That includes his 48 years as a volunteer firefighter and chief fire officer, eight years with the St John Ambulance, 32 years as an honorary forest ranger, 35 as a wildlife officer and eight years as a fisheries officer.

He co-founded the Far North surf rescue unit covering Hokianga to North Cape and has held positions of chief instructor and club president.

Mr Beatson has devoted himself to the local Ahipara community, serving as leader of the youth group for 11 years, sitting on the local residents and ratepayers' association, and he formed and coached the Ahipara Surfrettes girls' marching team.

He has beaten cancer twice, and each time has continued with his commitments to his community and the Far North.

Total commitment means he is on call 24 hours a day but said he wouldn't have it any other way: "When I wake up every day I'm pretty happy."

VICKI CULLING

After losing her first baby shortly after birth, Vicki Culling decided she wanted to support other parents in similar situations.

She and her husband Kevan lost baby Aster 11 years ago, and Mrs Culling said she knew right away that her life was about to change tack.

She began supporting bereaved parents in Wellington through her local Sands group, a network that supports parents and their families who have experienced a stillbirth, newborn death or other reproductive loss.

During her time with the organisation she has liaised with the New Zealand police, funeral directors, coroners and health boards in order to improve care and services for bereaved families.

Her tireless work has led to a better understanding of perinatal loss among the public and health and professional groups.

The Cullings now have a daughter, Phoebe, who has been brought up knowing she once had an older sister. The family enjoys getting away for weekends in their converted school bus and Mrs Culling said it would be quite a treat to be on a cruise ship.

PHILLIP CHAO

At just 19 years of age, Phillip Chao juggles an impressive list of commitments because he "wants to help people".

As well as being a third-year medicine student with an A-grade-average, Mr Chao volunteers as a youth counsellor, mentors first-year students and is the DJ for Starship's Radio Lollipop.

He also volunteers for Amnesty International, acts as a mentor with the Project K programme and, until recently, worked as a teacher aid for autistic children and as a Red Cross collector.

His mother, Jennifer, said she sometimes worried about how busy he was, but she had accepted it was just what he wanted to be doing.

Mr Chao joked that he was not sure how he would fit the cruise into his schedule. He hoped to take his mum with him to thank her for being so supportive.

EMMA PRATT

During her cruise Emma Pratt is looking forward to radio calling the mainland from the sea, rather than the other way around.

As the voice behind Great Barrier Island's marine radio for the past 16 years Ms Pratt has guided several boaties in nerve-racking situations to safety.

Her friend Joy Nicholson, who nominated her for the award and will be joining her on the cruise, said Ms Pratt, or Emmy as she is known, was the "angel of the sea".

"If you're out there on a boat in rough weather, lost, just lying there and you can hear her voice just hearing that voice comforts you," Mrs Nicholson said.

STEPHANIE HARAWIRA

Stephanie Harawira can work up to 18 hours a day running a free community youth centre in Henderson.

The mum-of-three devotes herself to the youth of West Auckland through the Ezekiel 33 Trust, a non-profit organisation she set up to provide free events and a youth centre.

The centre provides kids a place to hang out, learn hip-hop, or play and offers budgeting advice and catering services. On Sundays it offers a church service.

The South Pacific Cruise, which Mrs Harawira will schedule around whanau days and other community commitments, will be the first holiday she and her husband, Tai, have had since they were married 14 years ago.