New Year 2026 Honours: Chris Sharp awarded King’s Service Medal

When Chris Sharp was named a life member of Land Search and Rescue New Zealand (LSRNZ) last month, chief operating officer Tony Wells said it was harder to get a life membership than a royal honour in their organisation.

Sharp did not have a royal honour at the time, but he has been recognised just over a month later with a King’s Service Medal in the New Year 2026 Honours List for services to Search and Rescue and outdoor recreation.

He and his family weren’t “surprised totally” by the news, given his 63 years as a Land Search and Rescue volunteer, and he was thankful for the support his community had shown in advocating for him to receive the honour.

His letters of congratulations from the Prime Minister and Governor-General had just arrived on the morning the Gisborne Herald went to speak with him.

“I don’t usually get letters with Government stamps on, unless they’re asking for money,” he said.

He wasn’t planning any celebrations to mark the occasion, but he intended to travel to Wellington to receive his medal early next year.

He didn’t have any particular place in mind to put the medal yet.

Sharp has been a team leader, trustee, trust chairman, a police SAR adviser, and a mentor in his time with LSRNZ.

His dedicated fundraising efforts for search and rescue got a special mention in both his life membership and royal honour citations.

“Search and rescue for a long time was self-funded, so we raised the money for whatever we wanted. If we wanted some radios or if we wanted some canoes or inflatable rafts, whatever,” Sharp said.

He said much of the fundraising was done through door-knocking homes and people were often receptive.

“It was dead easy really, because when you explained to them what you were doing, they put their hands in their pockets quite quickly.”

He was only the 11th person named a life member of LSRNZ in nearly 20 years.

He was a founding member of the Gisborne Land Search and Rescue Charitable Trust Board and only stood down as trust chairman in 2022.

In 2010, he was a driving force behind establishing the WanderSearch programme in the Tairāwhiti District.

WanderSearch administers pendants that can be used to help find at-risk people with the potential to wander, such as those with dementia or who are neurodiverse.

Working with the Eastern Fish and Game Council, he assisted with catching illegal poachers.

He was on the Public Access New Zealand board and helped ensure there was legal access throughout trails across the district.

He was a bush instructor with the Gisborne Mountain Safety Council from 1969 to 2015, an honorary ranger with the New Zealand Wildlife Service, an assistant scout master with the Tokomaru Bay Scouts and a member of the Eastland Outdoor Enterprises Trust, the Eastern Regional Search and Rescue Committee and Te Urewera Conservation Board.

In 2005, he became a life member of the Gisborne Canoe and Tramping Club, holding several leadership positions while involved with the club for 40 years.