Volunteer's spirit a 'huge gift' that will be missed

Brian Batchelder (left), CEO Fiona Allan, Norma Hansen and Peter Hansen.

The Whangarei volunteer community is mourning the loss of one of its greats.

Brian Batchelder died earlier this month at the age of 69.

Batchelder devoted months of his time to Paralympics New Zealand, driving and setting up the Spirit of Gold collection at several locations throughout the country.

A photographer by day, Batchelder's career choice allowed him to do the volunteer work he loved.

Along with his Paralympic work, he was very active in the Whangarei community, volunteering for support groups, the Human Rights Commission and others.

Since November 2015, the Paralympics New Zealand Spirit of Gold Collection has travelled more than 16,000km, visited about 90 towns, and has been seen by more than 120,000 New Zealanders live and 10 million via media and social media. This was in partnership with the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce.

Batchelder's ambition was to change the perception of disability and raise the awareness of Para-Sport throughout the New Zealand public.

In particular, he wanted to inspire a new generation of New Zealanders and that was evident during the many school visits he arranged as part of the Spirit of Gold Tour.

Paralympics NZ's Sarah Dance said the organisation was incredibly grateful for Batchelder's work.

"The time that Brian gave to Paralympics New Zealand remains a huge gift and we can't thank him enough for his support of our organisation," she said.

"Our thoughts are with the Batchelder family, may he rest in peace."

He is survived by his children Andrea Knott, Paul Batchelder, Richard Batchelder and Keith Batchelder.