My Account
Six members of the Mahurangi community were recognised for their services to Maori, midwifery, the fire service and the community in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
The recipients were Reverend John Marsden, Susan Wynyard, Sally Wilson, Gary Aitken, Christine Bygrave and Alaister Mason.
Reverend Marsden QSO JP received the Companion of the NZ Order of Merit for his services to Māori and the community. Rev. Marsden was general manager of the iwi-led primary health provider Te Haa Oranga o Ngati Whatua until 2005 and was general manager of Te Puna Hauora o Te Raki Paewhenua from 2005 until 2018.
He has been kaumatua for North Shore Hospice since 2007, where he provides spiritual support for whanau of patients in palliative care and supports hospice workers as a cultural advisor. He has maintained a cultural advisory role with several retirement homes and provided his services as a kaumatua to local kohanga reo and the New Zealand Police.
As of 2017, he has been a cultural advisor for the Department of Corrections. He is a member of a number of boards and has been a trustee of Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua since 2003 and was involved with Treaty claims for the iwi, as well as the acquisition of commercial enterprises for the Runanga.
Warkworth Birthing Centre founders, Susan Wynyard and Sally Wilson, were made Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Mrs Wynyard and Mrs Wilson were two of three midwives who, following the closure of the Warkworth Maternity Hospital in 1992, advocated for a local birthing centre leading to the establishment of the Warkworth Birthing Centre Community Trust.
The Trust purchased land and moved the former nurses’ home to the site in the 1990s.
Mrs Wynyard and Mrs Wilson were co-founders of Rodney Coast Midwives, which opened the Warkworth Birthing Centre in 2000. The centre has provided maternity care to more than 10,000 women. It has two birthing rooms, an assessment room, 10 postnatal rooms, three public lounges and clinical office spaces, and is recognised internationally as a leader in primary birth care.
Both Mrs Wilson and Mrs Wynyard have held long-term roles on the Waitemata District Health Board Maternity Clinical Governance Committee.
Both women retired from providing lead maternity care in 2017, but continue as directors of the centre.
Gary Aitken JP received the Queen’s Service Medal for services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the community.
Mr Aitken joined the Opunake Volunteer Fire Brigade in 1966 and later, the Warkworth Brigade in 1970, where he rose through the ranks to become Chief Fire Officer in 1999.
Mr Aitken was brigade secretary at Warkworth, from 1975 until 1991. He was elected to the committee of the Auckland Suburban Fire Brigades Sub Association in 1986 and was junior vice president in 1989, later progressing to president in 1991.
Mr Aitken was chairman of the United Fire Brigades Association (UFBA) National Competition Panel from 1999 to 2005, during which time he was involved in fine-tuning and critiquing national standards and rules for the modernisation of waterway events and represented New Zealand through the UFBA in Australia.
He has been the Warkworth Tennis club captain and served on the committee of the Warkworth Pony Club, where he was involved in the development of new pony grounds and club rooms and the setting up of arenas for Warkworth A&P shows.
Christine Bygrave received the Queen’s Service Medal for services to the community.
Mrs Bygrave has been involved at a senior level with a number of organisations within the Mangawhai/Hakaru community for many years.
She was involved with the Mangawhai Historical Society from its early days when a new museum was conceived. She was involved with fundraising, commissioning and completing the new museum, which opened in 2014.
Mrs Bygrave was instrumental in establishing a fund to add regular sponsorship and return on endowments to the museum’s operational budget, and continues as an active volunteer and Chair of the Board. She is also a trustee of a Pioneer Village project situated next to the museum.
In other roles, she has been an active member of the Mangawhai Golf Club for 30 years and served in a number of committee roles. She was the first female president from 2003 to 2004 and led the celebrations for the club’s silver jubilee.
She has played the organ for services at the Kaiwaka St Paul’s Church for many years and leads the Mangawhai Singers who present concerts at various community fundraisers. She helped establish the Hakaru Pony Club, which holds events at a venue on her farm. Mrs Bygrave was the chairperson of the Otamatea High School Board of Trustees from 1983 to 1988.
Alastair Mason received the Queen’s Service Medal for philanthropy and services to the community.
Mr Mason has contributed personally and through various business interests to a range of community and sports organisations in the Warkworth and North Rodney area for many years. He helped the Jane Gifford Restoration Trust with the rebuild of the historic scow and assisted with the rebuild of the Warkworth Town Wharf where the Jane Gifford is berthed.
He instigated and financed a programme to supply Automated External Defibrillator (AED) units in conjunction with St John to local sporting and community organisations and was a major financial contributor to the construction of Tui House, for the Warkworth/Wellsford Hospice.
Mr Mason has assisted many sports and community clubs, both financially and with material and equipment. He has a special interest in helping promote and fund local youth initiatives such as Springboard, Bluelight, scouts, Kowhai Coast Youth, and a number of others.
Read Mr Mason’s Local Folk profile here.
