The Tower Local Hero Award medallists are, from left, Keegan Jones, Rachel Hill, Roddy Pihema, Tane Manukau, Annette Hall, John Paitai, MaryJane Manukau
In towns across Northland, there are people who quietly hold things together and give back to their communities.
Seven of those people have been recognised as this year’s Tower Local Hero Award (Te Pou Toko o te Tau) Medallists.
The award acknowledges locals whose actions have had a significant and lasting impact in their communities.
Northland’s winners were among the many put forward by Kiwis earlier this year, from which 100 nationwide were selected to receive the award.
They are all in the running to be crowned Tower New Zealand’s Local Hero of the Year, announced in March as part of the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards.
Annette Hall
Annette Hall has been the calm voice behind Far North Radio for decades.
The volunteer-run organisation provides marine radio services and rescue support that stretches from Whangaroa to Hokianga and out to the Three Kings Islands.
Hall works from a small room at the back of her home that overlooks Doubtless Bay. There she fields an average of 20,000 calls a year.
The medal was a “lovely surprise” for Hall, who thought the package in which it came had been wrongly sent to her.
She had planned to post it back.
“I wasn’t even going to open it,” Hall said.
“Because it came staring out of the blue. I thought it might be a birthday present for a child or an early Christmas present. I was planning on checking the phone number and giving them a ring.”
Hall eventually changed her mind, the cards inside made her elated.
“It was like an out-of-body experience and of course I sent a photo off to my daughter,” she said.
Hall works tirelessly to co-ordinate fundraising, training, lifejacket education, and recruit organisers and anglers for fishing competitions, as well as responding to distress calls.
She supports the inshore commercial fleet and offshore yachting community with Single Sideband (SSB) marine radio communications. She shares up-to-date weather and tide information, and co-ordinates critical communication during emergencies such as the Enchanter tragedy.
Hall plans to keep at her volunteer work, finding it enjoyable – and it also keeps her close to a favourite pastime.
“It’s as close as I can get to going fishing,” she said.
John Paitai
John Paitai has spent his life shaping the values of the next generation.
He pioneered bilingual education in the 1980s and during his times as te reo Māori teacher, Kaitāia College deputy principal and principal of Bay of Islands College.
Paitai helped weave Māori cultural principles more deeply into schools and communities.
He gave countless young people a sense of identity, pride and purpose through kapa haka, music, sport, and a restorative, tikanga-based approach to conflict.
While he retired years ago, Paitai continues to make a difference in his roles as chairman of Roma Marae and the Parengarenga–Ahipara-Peria Anglican Pastorate; as a kaumātua to iwi that include Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāpuhia, and for the Mate Wareware (dementia) kaupapa; and as a Justice of the Peace.
Paitai was humbled by the award and pleased he had been able to positively impact the lives of many deserving people.
He said he had been determined in his retirement to avoid doing nothing.
“I’ve done the complete opposite. I’m so busy now that I think, ‘oh, jeez’. But I’ve enjoyed it. For me, it’s giving back to the community that has helped me in the past.”
Presence, reliability and aroha are at the forefront of what he does. Whether it is shaping decision-making at some of the country’s largest institutions – including Waipapa Taumata Rau – mowing lawns for kaumātua, or driving the kura bus.
“By the time I am finished mowing the church lawns, the marae lawns, Mum’s lawn, mine and my sister’s lawns it’s time to go back and do it again.”
Keegan Jones
Whangārei lawyer Keegan Jones is being hailed for transforming access to justice in New Zealand with his innovative, people-centred approach.
He founded the Free Legal Clinics Project Charitable Trust to help people navigate issues that felt complex or too expensive.
Jones has established six free, Māori-centric legal clinics in Kerikeri, Whangārei, Ōtautahi Christchurch, Auckland and Tauranga, which help more than 1000 people navigate family, land and criminal law issues.
He recently opened Tauranga’s first iwi-based legal clinic and was working with local iwi to establish a “legal waka” – a decommissioned ambulance that serves as a mobile legal clinic.
Jones was driven to set-up the clinics after he witnessed poverty while growing up in Northland.
“ ... People can’t afford food, let alone a lawyer,” he said.
“I think for me it was more providing a service which was highly needed, but also addressing the fact that, unfortunately Māori are overrepresented in our justice system.
“I always say it’s the principle of equality versus equity ... Currently Māori aren’t represented in terms of a fair and equitable way within our justice system,” Jones said.
He believed te ao Māori was the way to address those issues and that Māori-based services could benefit all communities while still tackling deeper issues that cause over-representation of Māori.
Jones’ impact was recognised internationally this year when he became the only New Zealander named in Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 Social Impact list.
He was humbled and honoured to receive a local hero medal.
He thanked the people who nominated him, as well as the support of his partners in the project, “without whom it wouldn’t be possible”.
Rachel Hill
Rachel Hill is known in Northland for helping people find hope.
She co-founded Taimahi Trust which aims to provide training and development for people with learning and intellectual disabilities, helping them to get into work.
The trust, of which Hill is now chief executive and chairwoman, currently has 12 employees and has transformed the lives of nearly 30 whānau living with intellectual disabilities.
Trainees learn a wide range of skills including growing produce, making coffee, baking pies and sweets, stocking goods, arranging deliveries and manning the till at the Bank St store.
Hill said trainees had gained friendships, felt personal value, improved self-regulation and developed social skills.
“They’ve increased their belief in their own abilities. One of the trainees told me when I asked him what it’s like for him at the trust, he said: ‘I found my voice’. And doesn’t that speak volumes?”
The community learned more patience and compassion through Taimahi Trust’s Whangārei store.
The trust has also provided food and support for people in Whangārei doing it tough in Whangārei.
Additionally, Hill coaches others through challenges like anxiety, depression, and workplace bullying by drawing on her own experiences of resilience as a full-time carer for her son and her former husband.
Despite her achievement in changing lives, Hill was surprised to return home from Australia to find the local hero award in the mail.
“I came back and there was this big package waiting for me to open and I went ‘I didn’t order any big packages’ and when I opened it it was pretty surprising,” she said.
“I am not used to getting awards because I don’t do it for the awards.”
Hill was humbled to be named alongside the other “amazing” recipients.
She said knowing she was among them made her tearful.
“There are amazing people out there and I am humbled to be one of them.”
Roddy Pihema
For Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board member Roddy Pihema, community service isn’t a choice. It is a part of who he is.
He is on 19 committees and boards, advocating for the elderly, children and families.
Pihema has turned up in storms, floods and emergencies to help Far North families.
He co-ordinates flood response efforts, clears stormwater drains, warns whānau of risks and dangers – remaining calm and compassionate all the while.
Beyond emergency response, Pihema supports long-term community wellbeing through initiatives such as Feed the Families and creating school and community gardens for vulnerable whānau.
“When I was a boy I made a promise to my elders, my father and I am honouring it,” Pihema said.
“They set me up to begin, and I suppose, my journey in supporting communities started from there.”
Pihema was aware of his accomplishments, saying he had not done them alone.
“Because kaitiaki always show up, it’s built into us, it’s part of who we are when it comes to kaitiakitanga and you take that responsibility and you must step forward.”
He said the medal belonged to everyone working quietly in their communities.
“It was a privilege to accept it, and I accept it on behalf of all those who are out there doing the mahi and are not seen.”
Pihema’s wife and children often joined him in his work. He hoped the latter would absorb his sense of giving back.
“My children and my wife and my family are a big part of my journey. We have always believed in blood, sweat and passion. It’s not only about influencing them, but also others in the community.”
Tane and Maryjane Manukau
Koha Mondays at MJs Cafe in the Far North began with the simple idea that no one should feel alone.
Kaitāia’s Tane and Maryjane Maukau turned that idea into a warm, welcoming space where residents in need can find food and company.
Their advocacy has helped highlight need in the community, while their kindness has restored dignity for many who walked through their doors.
The couple had been surprised to find two gold medals inside a delivered package.
“We didn’t think of ourselves as heroes,” Maryjane said. “We just felt that it was something that we love doing and it’s about people and feeding those in need.”
Every week MJs Cafe serves 30 to 40 breakfasts, ranging from eggs benedict to mince on toast, to people experiencing hardship or homelessness.
Tane and Maryjane are outspoken advocates for better mental-health services in the Far North, highlighting support gaps for vulnerable people.
“It has opened our eyes to see what families are actually going through. We understand the struggle that is out there,” Maryjane said.
She hoped to combine with other organisations to perhaps do a soup kitchen.
“People can’t even afford to buy just basic food.”
Maryjane and Tane hoped to continue their work and were recently motivated by a memory of the late Monty Knight.
Knight, who died last Sunday, with a woman now facing a murder charge, had come into the cafe for lunch. He had called Maryjane over.
“ ... He said, ‘I’ve heard so much about MJ’s Cafe and I just want to say well done and keep up the good work’.”