The Kiwibank Local Hero awards is New Zealand's premier community award, celebrating and honouring those who have made a positive contribution to their region, town, suburb or community.
Some 340 specially made Local Hero medals have been presented nationwide overrecent weeks, with one national Local Heroes winner to be announced at the New Zealander of the Year Gala Awards in Auckland in February next year.
Mark Stephen, Kiwibank Acting CEO, said the bank's nationwide network of staff were humbled and proud to be supporting communities to celebrate their "Local Heroes" over the past nine years.
"Many of these medal winners are unsung heroes, whose selflessness has had a profound effect on the lives of so many in the community.
"Those acts of charity, optimism and commitment are what make New Zealand such a special place to live in. We think it's important for us to give thanks to these people and that's why we sponsor the Local Hero Awards."
The 2018 New Zealander of the Year Awards are to be presented in six award categories, with the overall winner of each category to be announced at the New Zealander of the Year Awards Gala on February 22.
Dr Clyde Wade (Whatawhata)
Dr Clyde Wade is a retired doctor, heart specialist and physician. He has dedicated his life to public health and worked tirelessly for his patients, earning him respect and love from the people who have come into contact with him.
Ally Tairi (Cambridge)
Ally Tairi is a foundation member of Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, previously known as Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust, after its launch in 2000.
Ally has helped create the pest monitoring policy which has resulted in the mountain becoming pest-free. She also works regularly around the region, including managing more than 400 volunteers of the mountain.
Annah Stretton (Morrinsville)
With a career in fashion spanning 25 years, Annah Stretton is an icon of the NZ fashion industry. Her career has involved being a designer, CEO, mentor, publisher, speaker, author and philanthropist after founding the Stretton Fashion Group in 1991.
Annah is also a founding member of NZ global women, and is currently on the chair of the Waikato women's refuge and a board member of UNICEF NZ.
Graeme Watts (Whangamata)
Graeme Watts, also known as Noddy, is the type of person to go the extra mile in every aspect of life. He is organiser and driving force behind Whangamata's annual Beach Hop, making the event a popular attraction for many local and international visitors. From the first festival in 2001 with just 100 cars and motorbikes, this annual event has grown to over 1000 vehicles, and more than 100,000 people attending.
Donna Young (Ohaupo)
Donna Young is noted as a truly inspirational person with her passion and commitment to helping animals.
In 2014, Donna set up the New Lives Animal Rescue, a registered charity that specialises in the rescuing and rehoming of dogs, puppies, cats and kittens, horses and other species where possible. New Lives is funded by sales from two op-shops which are staffed by volunteers who assist with op-shop work, fundraising and directing animal welfare activities.
Angie Millar (Tamahere)
Angie Millar has been heavily involved with the fundraising for Tamahere Model Country School.
Her passion and enthusiasm has since helped to put together a team to create a cookbook, raising money to support the school. The project was a huge success and the cookbook alone raised more than $250,000. It was featured on Seven Sharp as one of the top six cookbooks for 2016.
This project helped Tamahere Model Country School to build their pool, which wouldn't have been able to be built without Angie's drive and countless hours working on this project.
Don Willoughby (Cambridge)
Don Willoughby is a quiet achiever with a generous nature who gives time and effort back to his local community by helping young people and the environment.
Don spent many years as a geography teacher, passing on his passion for geography to thousands of students at Kamo High School and St Peter's School. During his time teaching and also in retirement, Don has also coached many athletes to national titles in distance running and managed the New Zealand Cross Country team at the World Championships.
Stu Muir (Waikato)
Stu Muir is a fifth-generation Waikato dairy farmer. He has put a huge effort into restoring natural waterways on his farm, clearing and regenerating waterways that had been blocked, stagnant and dying since the 1920s.
The work has involved the removal of invasive plants and replanting the wetlands with over 40,000 native plants. He has created a path of boardwalks through the wetlands, so that people can learn about the crucial role wetlands play in biodiversity.
Stu is a fluent te Reo speaker with a strong sense of kaitiaki (guardian of the environment) for the land and natural environment. He is an inspiration for landowners and dairy farmers and is passionate about the integration of farming and environmental stewardship.
Elizabeth McMurray (Paeroa)
Elizabeth is a true local hero and grandma figure, teaching knitting to kids in Paeroa free of charge every Tuesday. She knits scarfs makes and jams which she sells to raise money to buy shoes, school jumpers and uniforms for the students of Paeroa Central School. As a former teacher, Elizabeth continues to be dedicated to helping the children of her community. Her selfless, kind and generous persona has truly made a positive impact on the people she is surrounded by and the wider community of Paeroa.
Mary Addison (Putaruru)
Mary Addison is a retired primary school teacher who runs a children's outreach programme through St Paul's Anglican/Methodist Church.
She runs a weekly 'Fun Food and Faith' that involves an hour of craft and two courses of hot food, as well as providing art and cooking classes for residents of Ballymena Home. She provides clothing, bedding, food, petrol coupons, toys and books from the community for at risk families and helps them to liaise with government agencies.
Moira Dempsey (Te Awamutu)
Age is nothing but just a number according to Moira. Recently turning 104, Moira has just received an award recognising her 80 years of service to the Women's Institute.
In 1936 she joined Kio Kio Women's Institute and has since progressed from being a committee member, to treasurer, to secretary and finally the president. During the war period with imposed petrol rationing, she drove the farm truck around the district on Institute Day to pick up members and transport them to and from the local hall for meetings.
Christine Hartstone (Raglan)Christine's contribution to equestrian sport spans the entire spectrum from grassroots level to the international stage across several disciplines.
She has been deeply involved as a volunteer in the organisation and administration of most forms of the equestrian sport notably including Pony Club, Eventing and Dressage in the Waikato Area for over 30 years. At a National level she has also worked for decades for the Dressage and Eventing disciplines of Equestrian Sport NZ.
Aaron Fleming (Hamilton)
Aaron Fleming is an author and ambassador, a respected leader, a champion of the environment, and an athlete who has defied the medical world at only 33. Aaron continually shows outstanding leadership skills during times of crisis and change in several different fields.
Aaron's peers describe him as a great leader with a vision to make New Zealand a better place to live, who motivates team members to help him achieve it.
After undergoing health issues earlier in his life, Aaron began a path of making a difference in the lives of young Kiwis with lung problems. He has successfully used the Ironman triathlon to raise funds for cystic fibrosis (a lung disorder), and built mentor relationships with many affected families. So far, Aaron has raised over $34,000 for various charities through his participation in Ironman and sport.
