Pride of NZ Awards: G'day, it's your old mate the Pride of New Zealand judge

Being a knight is pretty special.

But Sir Peter Leitch insists that the ordinary people who do good things every day are the real heroes.

Sir Peter - better known as the Mad Butcher - is the final high-profile Kiwi to join the national judging panel for the Pride of New Zealand Awards.

The awards, which honour ordinary people doing big things to help their local community, have drawn hundreds of nominations over the past few months.

Sir Peter, 70, said the term "hero" tended to be given just to an elite few. But for him, heroes were ordinary people who contributed to their communities.

"They're people that just do little things all the time - even just running a sausage sizzle for a charity. Unsung heroes come in many different forms," he said.

Sir Peter grew up in Newtown, Wellington, and went on to establish the Mad Butcher chain.

He acknowledged that his family's humble beginnings had always pushed him to want to help others and in 2010 he was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and philanthropy.

"I come from a working-class background; very humble beginnings and I don't forget my roots. When I was growing up, there wasn't really any talk of heroes.

"But I'm certainly looking forward to the judging. For every person who gets an award, there's a million people who deserve one.

"So it's pretty hard. I will do my best to judge."

Over the years Sir Peter has been involved in a number of charities, including the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Macular Degeneration NZ, Diabetes Auckland and Allergy New Zealand.

The Pride of New Zealand Awards are an initiative of the Herald, The Hits radio station and TSB Bank.

The regional award ceremonies will take place this week.

The first winners, from the upper North Island, will be announced in Auckland tonight.

Sir Peter will be a national judge alongside former TV One news achor Judy Bailey, Victoria Cross holder Willie Apiata, TSB Bank CEO Kevin Murphy, and APN NZ CEO Jane Hastings.

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