Among the recipients of the New Year’s Honours is Martinborough local Trevor Hawkins, who has received the Queen’s Service Medal [QSM] for services to the community – although he sees the award as something for the whole community, not just himself.
“All the stuff I’ve been doing, there’s always been a lot of other people that have had an input,” Hawkins said.
Founder of Martinborough Transport Ltd and Hawkins Contracting Ltd, Hawkins has sponsored a range of community organisations and sports teams through his businesses – including the Martinborough Rugby Club, where he has been a player and a coach, and held key committee positions.
Often donating both labour and machinery for club building and maintenance projects, Hawkins also contributed significant financial assistance and donated his own labour and machinery to enable the establishment of the Martinborough Gym, which was “started off and helped by a lot of people; there was a lot of time and effort put in by a lot of people,” he said.
Hawkins has also sponsored the Martinborough Golf Club’s programme and annual Christmas tournament, on top of serving on the club’s committee and being course convenor for four years.
In 1996, he was involved in a major project to remove pine trees from the course and replant specimen trees – something he had also done almost 20 years prior.
Hawkins is also a past chairman of the Hau Ariki Marae Trustees Committee, on which he served for 26 years as a member, leading to him also becoming a member of the South Wairarapa District Māori Standing Committee for several terms.
Despite being recognised for his hard work in several areas of the community, Hawkins was adamant that none of it could have been done without the support of the wider Martinborough population.
“There were always a lot of people there at the marae helping us to do the mahi,” Hawkins said, “and great volunteers at the Golf Club too.”
“There’s a lot of people out there that helped us along the way and a lot of people that had their input.”
With police support, Hawkins also helped establish the Martinborough Night Patrol after a spate of break-ins and criminal activity in the community.
When asked about the inspiration behind his commitment to Martinborough and its community, Hawkins said it was down to being surrounded by good people.
“You’ve gotta have your community; otherwise, it’s not a good place to live, and Martinborough is a good place to live because we’ve got good people around us,” he said.
Hawkins admitted that being recognised with a QSM is “a bit overwhelming” and noted that he hasn’t been the only one doing things for the community.
“There are a lot of people who also do the same sort of stuff, and I’d love to acknowledge them all, but I could be here all day, acknowledging people that do stuff.”
