Fulton Hogan Basketball League www.inclusivesport.org.nz  

Sue Brown of Collingwood, Takaka

When issues arose in the Aorere catchment in Golden Bay relating to water quality effecting the local shell fish industry there was division and unhappiness in the area. This was a big community problem in a small community that needed to live and work together. Sue Brown understood the issue facing the Aorere dairy community and took on a leadership role in turning the situation around. Sue and her partner John Nalder run a dairy farm in the catchment. Now five years later Shellfish farmers and Dairy farmers live in harmony. Shellfish farmers who once could only harvest 30% of days are now able to harvest all the time apart from wild weather.

Sue helped to lead a Sustainable Farming Funded 'Farmers as Leaders' project in which the farmers commissioned their own scientific report and model. The model showed bacteria levels flowing down the Aorere River in rain events and how it flows around Golden Bay effecting mussel farms. Sue took this on board and encouraged other farmers to get involved. She is a true champion in Golden Bay and has since become involved in other organisations. Federated Farmers and the Nelson Conservation Board as a farmer representative. Sue has spent many hours working for her community both in Playcentre and her local school. She has hosted & organised countless meetings, baked, made countless phonecalls, sent emails, given presentations around the country all relating to encouraging farmers to think about the environmental impact of dairying and steps to take in order to reduce that impact.

Thanks to Sue the Aorere example has caught the interest of many other farmers around NZ as well as had a significant positive impact in this region.

Darci Goldsworthy of Nelson

As the chairman of the Nelson Gambling Taskforce, Darci Goldsworthy was the spearhead in successfully fighting the implementation of 9 poker machines into a Victory Square bar, opposite a park and doors away from a kindergarten. 

As well as this awesome achievement Darci is a full time father, raising his 6 year old daughter and is a passionate rap artist. Every song has a message, whether that be of family, following your dreams, or fighting for what you believe in.

He is especially talented at helping young at-risk men. After losing his father at the age of 14 he now knows what it takes to be a man today. Darci briefly worked for Care Solutions in Nelson, a company that works with children in the welfare system, and built a repore with boys not in school that needed direction.

Darci was also nominated in the Young New Zealander of the Year Category.

Carol Duffy of Lower Moutere
Carol is the co-founder of Winning with Words, a literacy programme that caters for six to ten year olds in Motueka for as little as $35.00 a term, a cost for materials only. 

The children are those struggling with reading, spelling and written language. Carol also provides books and afternoon tea for the children and is developing a programme for dyslexia. 

The children work in small groups with a trained teacher and result in children developing confidence, improvements in reading and writing abilities and now many schools in the area recommend the after school programme to their students who could benefit from the extra tuition that they themselves cannot provide.