Our Leaders: Katie Williams

Almost 30 years of volunteering has seen Katie Williams recognised with a Rotorua Community Leadership Award - but she insists her efforts are nothing extraordinary.
"It's just the way I was brought up, it's the way I find happiness," she says.
Her roles include helping arthritis sufferers at hot pool exercise classes, transporting the disabled, running the U3A photography group which makes and donates cards to charities and helping at the coffin club where she helps elderly people construct and decorate their own coffins.
The former nurse has also been involved with Save the Children, Whare Aroha Home and Hospital, Rotorua Community Hospice, SPCA, Riding for the Disabled, UNICEF and Trade Aid.
The 72-year-old said volunteering was her full-time job and wasn't that different from nursing.
"Much of nursing is caring for and loving people, volunteering is just an extension of that."
She said one of her favourite volunteer positions was the coffin club. "It's not morbid at all, it's a laugh a minute ... Building their own coffins is an opportunity for people to be in control until the end and face their own demise."
When she's not busy volunteering Ms Williams likes to read, take photographs and spend time with her dogs.
A year ago she received an appreciation plaque from the arthritis pool group but she said that was her first award.
Ms Williams was among 16 leaders in the Rotorua community who recently received awards for their community contributions.
The awards were held in conjunction with the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Trust, the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust, the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce and The Daily Post.