Volunteers earn well-earned breaks

From left, Unsung Heroes 2010 winners Roy Bartlett, Zita Tuffley, Ann Sherry, Yvonne Ennion, Sally Holbrook and Dean Gifford. Photo / Sarah Ivey

The most tireless volunteers in the country will soon leave their communities behind - but only for 10 days, after earning a well-deserved
holiday for their roles as Unsung Heroes.

The winners of the Herald's third Unsung Heroes series were awarded their prizes - which include a Pacific cruise with P&O - at a lunch at the Hilton in Auckland today.

Ann Sherry, the chief executive of Carnival Cruises, which runs P&O
in Australia and New Zealand, helped Herald editors pick the winners.

She said pulling five names from 70 was the most difficult task she had had all year.

Winners Yvonne Ennion, Dean Gifford, Sally Holbrook, Zita Tuffley and Roy Bartlett come from all over New Zealand, and threw themselves into refugee services, collecting resources for those with teaching sports and performing arts to disabled children and providing support for victims of crime.

More than 70 people were nominated but the five stood out for their tireless efforts to better the lives of others.

Yvonne Ennion

Even while basking on a Pacific cruise, Yvonne Ennion will take a moment to check on a friend and refugee she once looked after, now living in Vanuatu.

"It's all about the people," said Yvonne, who has helped to resettle refugees in Hamilton for 20 years.

She is looking forward to catching up with one of many she has housed and become a mother to.

She ran classes four times a week where new arrivals from Somalia, Afghanistan, Congo and Iraq could practise their English and study
aspects of Kiwi culture - whether it was learning new recipes or how the local health system works.

Yvonne has also taken on Congolese grandmother Henriette and her grandson Elie in a daily support role.

Because Elie arrived in the country without parents, Yvonne drives him to soccer practice and takes him on holiday.

She is still uncomfortable about the attention the award has given her.

"When I think of heroes, I think of people that go into people's burning house or car and pull them out.

"But I guess, in a way, I go in and pull people out of hard lives and into a new one."

Dean Gifford

When Wellington-based senior constable Dean Gifford saw pictures of Solomon Islands children dressed in rags, he felt compelled to act.

He has been sending shipments of toys, clothing, medical supplies and other donations to the Solomon Islands since 2004.

Starting with simple gifts from the $2 shop, he has now built up support from companies such as Nike, Colgate-Palmolive and Whittakers, who have all donated products.

He will soon send another shipment from long-time supporters Wellington Free Ambulance, who are donating medical supplies and clothing to the impoverished country's police force and hospital.

Diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2006, Mr Gifford took the opportunity while in hospital to visit the children's cancer ward.

He now organises helicopter trips for kids with cancer, as well as visits to the hospital from police dogs, the Armed Offenders Squad and
the fire service - all this while holding down a job with the force.

Sally Holbrook

Sally Holbrook's Pacific cruise will mark her first holiday in 23 years.

In that time she has spent nearly every waking minute working with disabled children.

Mrs Holbrook's working week was consumed by volunteer work and part-time
work as a legal secretary. On Saturday and Sunday she coached basketball and indoor bowls.

She has decided to take her holiday cruise in January because it is one of the rare quiet windows of time when her community in Tauranga
can survive - but only just - without her.

When her second daughter, Wendy, was born with a brain defect, Mrs Holbrook found special-needschildren were kept separate from their community, often locked in institutions.

Through her tireless work with IHC and Special Olympics, she has ensured her daughter, now in her twenties, and other disabled youngsters
can participate fully in their community.

Zita Tuffley

The horrors of domestic violence and its imprint on families is an everyday reality for Zita Tuffley, who has supported victims of crime
and trauma for nearly 10 years.

From 2001, Ms Tuffley was a volunteer with family violence organisation Shine.

In 2009, she joined Victim Support, where she was selected as one of a few volunteers to deal with families affected by murders.

Even once her job was completed, she kept in contact with friends and families of victims, supporting them through the justice system.

Since being nominated as an Unsung Hero, she has been given a full-time role with Victim Support.

She said being Maori was a factor in why she decided to start volunteering in the first place.

"A lot of victims are Maori. I wanted to make a difference and I think a lot of them can relate to me."

Roy Bartlett

Roy Bartlett's wife Juliehad an epiphany at their wedding when her brother Ross, who has Downs Syndrome, gave an impromptu speech, showing
eloquence she never knew he was capable of.

The seed of an idea - giving disabled kids an opportunity and a stage to
perform on - has blossomed into an organisation known as Starjam.

Under the Bartletts' guidance, Starjam now runs 17 workshops a week and has more than 90 volunteers.

Until he was recognised as an Unsung Hero by the Herald, many of Mr Bartlett's workmates were unaware that he was a volunteer for the
organisation. He regularly churned through 40-hour weeks, working quietly behind the stage, and managing the Auckland charity's head office.

He said the Pacific cruise would be nostalgic - his last trip aboard a P&O liner was in 1969 on the SS Canberra, which he worked on as a junior officer.

"I'm looking forward to sitting back this time, and letting the officers look after me."