Napier Pilot City Trust rejuvenated: Unity Day marked with awards

About 250 people have taken part in a rejuvenated Napier Pilot City Trust Unity Day in its first year without veteran stalwart and social justice campaigner Pat Magill, who died on April 30 last year, aged 96.

Among them on Wednesday were many recipients of the trust’s annual awards which were first presented about 25 years ago.

A trust was formed in response to the 1986 designation (by then Minister of Police and Social Welfare Ann Hercus) of Napier as a Pilot City for the study and implementation of positive alternatives to violence.

Unity Day at the Napier War Memorial Centre saw the launch of two new initiatives developed by the Napier Pilot City Trust that aims to make the city a kinder, fairer place. Photo / Paul Taylor

The recipients were guests at a Magill commemorative luncheon, which also recognised his decades of input as a former businessman and Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union president who turned to campaigns aimed at turning the tide by recognising educational and social disadvantage in Hawke’s Bay.

Magill became acutely aware of the struggles faced by many families in Napier through his involvement with the YMCA and the establishment of central city youth hangout the Downtown.

An annual Unity Week was soon established by the trust around the time of Anzac Day each year.

It includes the awards and the John Robson Memorial Lecture, named in memory of a Secretary of Justice who was responsible for the 1962 abolition of the death penalty in New Zealand.

The lecture has been delivered over the years by Governors General, judges, and others, and this week by distinguished sociologist Professor Paul Spoonley, of Massey University, and guests at such events as an annual Unity Dinner have included dozens of ambassadors to NZ and other emissaries.

Unity Day, at the Napier War Memorial Centre, also saw the launching of two initiatives developed by the trust in the year since Magill passed.

The first, Moving Forward 2024, has seen trust supporter Pete Findlay working with Whatever It Takes Trust and the Clive Square Outreach Centre to support vulnerable citizens seeking respite care amid failure of existing arrangements. The second - Tangata Tiriti Aotearoa - is a response to a call for networking of support for the Treaty of Waitangi building a better NZ for the future.

The presentation of the awards was made by Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise to the following people:

Pacific community worker Taiatini Lepaiao, partners and activists Neill Gordon and Laura Jackson, conservationist Lynne Anderson, hotelier and Puketapu community inspiration Mary Danielson, Whatever It Takes Trust community support workers Simon Beams and Mark “Bunny” Kupa, Maraenui Shamrock Boxing Club founder Taka Burton and Maraenui health and sports inspirationalist Te Aroha Papanui.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.