John Terris, QSO, was tonight's recipient of a 2nd Paul Harris Fellow Award tonight, a person who has been a stalwart of the Hutt Valley for many years. A Rotarian since 1997 initially with Hutt Valley Rotary, and then Eastern Hutt Rotary from 2011.
He represented Western Hutt as a Labour MP from 1978 to 1990 and was Mayor of Lower Hutt from 1994 to 2005 - the only person thus far to have been an MP and a Mayor.
John has been politician, priest and broadcaster. He is a member of the Queen's Service Order and was awarded the New Zealand Commemoration Medal in 1990. Hutt Valley Rotary awarded him a Paul Harris Fellow in 2005 for his service to the Hutt Valley Community.
Tonight though, Easter Hutt Rotary awarded John a second PHF award for instigating and bringing to the notice of the Hutt Valley City Council, and the Housing Corporation, the state of many of its homes. The dire lack of suitable heating and insulation causing many inhabitants to suffer from winter illnesses, particularly in the Naenae, Taita, Stokes Valley and Wainuiomata.
As a member of the Health & Wellbeing Committee, he organised a small number of fellow Rotarians to join him in door-knocking around the streets of these areas, to assess the lack of warm living conditions for many families. This was not an easy task and it took some time to achieve their goal but as a result, the Housing Corporation and many landlords finally came onboard to provide insulation and heating under the Healthy Homes Initiative.
We all stood in recognition of his untiring leadership and efforts.