Matthew Scott Henderson.
Hastings District Council Civic Honours Award.
Scott Henderson joined the Rotary Club of Havelock North on 1 May 1986. He has been and continues to be, an active member of the club.
He served the club as president for the 1993/94 Rotary year.
During his involvement with the club he has participated in many projects and fund-raising activities. His most notable contribution to the community was his idea to develop the viewing area at the top of Te Mata Peak. Through his Rotary involvement, along with Te Mata Park Trust, QE2 Trust and the local Iwi he addressed Hastings District Council and got their support for the project. In the late 80s Scott was the driving force behind the planning of the project. He chaired the NZ Contractors Fed Group who undertook the development of the area as per a plan which David Bone, ex Council Parks and reserve Designer, had set out for him. Rotary undertook much of the pathing and tidying of the area to make it more presentable. He also helped organise funding.
The span of his involvement ranges from cleaning up the Kiwi breading pens (near Napier airport), organising the Rotary run Christmas Parades in Havelock North in past years, acting as a marshal for the club’s annual Country to Coast fun run, arranging car parking wardens for the Holly Hospice events, selling raffle tickets in the club’s annual Christmas raffle, acting as a guard for the recent Te Mata Park logging project. There have been many, many more hours Scott has contributed to community related activities during his involvement with Rotary.
Scott is currently the Almoner for our Rotary club. A roll he takes seriously, touching base with current and past members who may be going through difficult times and offering support where appropriate.
His contribution to the club has been acknowledged with a Paul Harris Fellowship award. This award is a top, internationally recognized, accolade given to Rotarians for outstanding service to their club and the community and is not given lightly.
Aside from his Rotary club involvement, we are aware that Scott has made valuable contributions to:
- Cranford Hospice where he participated for many years on the Cranford Hospice committee
- Radio Kidnappers as Chair
- St Columbus Church, where he has and continues to hold the role of an elder.
- Lusk House, a facility for elderly people to meet, where he was Chair for several years
- The Hastings District Council where he served as a councillor for a 3-year term
Scott is a man of integrity who has given unstintingly of his time to the Hastings community and a very worthy recipient of this civic honours award.