Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 1

Upper Hutt Business & Professional Women

NEWSLETTER— May 2017

WELL DONE UPPER HUTT

WINNERS OF THE

Alix Haywood Award—for our Newsletter

Pauline Gapper Nepal Literacy Award—for

funds raised for Nepal Literacy

Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 2

The 2017 Conference was held 21-23 April 2017 at the beautiful

Oruawharo Homestead, Takapau just a 20 minute drive south of

Waipukurau, hosted by Central Hawkes Bay.

BPW Upper Hutt was represented by Elaine White and Sally Kean as

delegates and Talani Meikle as an observer. Angela McLeod and

Adele Hardie also attended as of course was the incoming New

Zealand President, our own Hellen Swales.

Firstly, congratulations to Hellen Swales on her new role as New Zealand President of BPW. Hellen I am

sure the Upper Hutt BPW members will offer you all the support they possibly can over the period of your

term of office.

To Adele Hardie, congratulations on winning the nomination as National Treasurer, a position Adele has

held before so she knows the ropes well.

I arrived in Waipukurau very early Friday afternoon and after booking in at the Fergusson Motor Inn I

drove out to the Oruawharo Homestead to deliver a planter box my son Byron had donated to BPW as a

raffle prize. I got there and just went “Wow, I could so live here”. Oruawharo was built in 1879,

designed by Wellington architect Charles Tringham and built by a D McLeod of Waipukurau and was

purchased in December 2000 by Peter and Dianne Harris (Dianne is a member of BPW Central Hawkes

Bay). Peter and Dianne set about restoring this beautiful home which had been left empty for over 25

years following the departure of some nuns. It holds a Heritage New Zealand Category 1 classification.

I could go on and on as I love these homes but for me the most beautiful piece of this building is the roof in

the ballroom which is constructed of wooden pieces like a mosaic.

A few years ago, the Catholic church in Takapau was decommissioned and it was offered to Peter and

Dianne. They took it and it now sits on their property and is used for conferences and weddings – people

come from all round the world to get married there. Executive stayed in the homestead in gorgeous rooms

– some fully refurbished, others still being refurbished. The two huge light fittings in the church are pieces

of art in themselves – designed by a famous New Zealand wood sculptor.

There were some workshops offered on Friday afternoon for first time conference attendees to a budget

finance session. We were ferried to and from Conference in mini buses from our motels and all dressed

up in our finery we headed out to Oruawharu late on Friday afternoon for the President’s cocktail party

followed by the Awards Dinner. This was a glittering affair – white linen table cloths, beautiful flower

decorations on each table, place name tags and menu all specially prepared for us. The meal used local

produce the meat coming from the Silver Fern Abbatoir

about two kilometres from the Conference. As already

announced to you, Upper Hutt won the Nepal Literacy

Fund award for raising the most money and the Alix

Haywood publicity award. We were very proud as it is a

while since we won a national award. The guest speaker

was Sally Jackson Napier City Council’s Manager of

Visitor Experiences but previously General Manager of the

Napier Art Deco Trust.

2017 Conference report from our President

Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 3

Saturday morning and at 8.30 am we were starting the work of the Annual Conference. The reports from

the office holders were presented and then the treasurer’s report. Dues for 2018 will increase by $2 to $77

per member in line with the increase of 1 Euro in International Dues. The Margery Toulson candidate

Ciaren Torrington from BPW Kaitaia presented her speech – after being grilled in a separate interview,

Ciaren won this award.

Resolutions were started prior to lunch and to be honest were a bit chaotic at times and were finally finished

off on Sunday morning. All the Resolutions were passed including those we chose as a Club to vote

against. The dissolution of the Massey University Extramural Study Award was passed but in the end

Executive have agreed to look into this as it is believed that the Margery Toulsen Award may contravene

the new Incorporated Societies Act. There was a lot of discussion around Young BPW and basically in the

end, it was agreed that Young BPW should attend the International Congress and their registration fees for

the BPW New Zealand Conference could be reduced but the difference will be met and funded by BPW

New Zealand so the organising committee is not affected. The Protection Order and Police Safety Order

breach resolutions were passed unanimously. If you would like further detail please see me afterwards.

After lunch on Saturday, there was a panel presentation by young women from rural Hawkes Bay which

was really interesting. They were Gretchen King who has developed some agricultural software, Justine

Kidd, CEO of Agribusiness, Mavis Mullins Chair Poutamu and Taratahi Ag Centre based in Masterton,

Sally Maguire a local artist and PJ White who manufactures cheese under the Century Hill Organics brand.

The 1960’s themed Saturday night dinner was a roaring success – we were all allocated to tables with an

artist from the 1960’s – Upper Hutt were at an Englebert Humperdink table and so we had to sing one of his

songs – Please Release Me. It was so much fun.

Sunday morning, another glorious day and we finished off the Resolutions, WEPS report, a presentation

from Te Aroha Hohaia from Hawera on her governance journey and the announcement of the election of

officers.

The new executive are:

Hellen Swales - President

Janet Gibb - First Vice President

Sally Smith - Second Vice President

Christine Berridge - Secretary

Adele Hardie -Treasurer

Lorraine Cameron -IT Administrator

Vivien Yeung - Young BPW

Vicky Mee -Immediate Past President

After lunch on Sunday it was the normal closing of conference activity – bidding for the next conference

won by BPW Wellsford and a combination of BPW Wellington, Upper Hutt and Hawera have won the

right to stage the 2019 80th Anniversary Conference.

A presentation was made to Vicky Mee which was well-deserved following her three years as President.

The entire conference was so well organised, the venue amazing, food incredible,

and the conversation, catching up with people was like icing on the cake. A huge

thank you to the Central Hawkes Bay organising committee.

Sally Kean

President

Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 4

Dinner Meetings

May Speaker: Carolyn O’Fallon

National Party Candidate

Rimutaka Electorate

Guests: Siobhan From Wellington Club and

also chair of BPW NZ Legislation Task Force.

Carolyn is from Vancouver,

Canada where her childhood

was average and certainly not

privileged. In 1988 she came

to New Zealand to study for a

PhD in social policy. She met

and married a southlander and

they have three grown children.

Carolyn is currently a principal advisor for a

central government department, and formerly

the Director of Pinnacle Research & Policy

where she has led projects for several govern-

ment agencies for nearly 20 years. She has

worked in the transport sector as a researcher

and policy advisor.

While her children Carolyn started the concept

of the walking school bus which has been

adopted around the country.

Carolyn was part of the project for monitoring

framework for the walking and cycling tracks

around New Zealand.

Carolyn had a dream of being involved in poli-

tics and would like to make that dream come

true in a few months time. She enjoys meeting

people and will be out and about door knocking

involved in seeking election which will be a lot

of fun and at times very testing. She has al-

ready had a few interesting experiences which

she shared with the group.

Carolyn spoke of the challenges for young

women and there are not many women working

in the field of technology.

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June meeting: 13 June

Speaker: Deb Cranko—Architect

Deb won the inaugural Professional Woman of the Year

Award in the NAWIC Excellence Awards in 2015.

Donations for food bank this month:

Refer to the dinner invitation

Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 5

Members Page This page is where we can add what you our members have been up to.

Note from the Editor

I was very please that Upper Hutt won the newsletter award and thanks to our members for giving

me the news to report especially the two minute wonders. Keep them coming in as it is your page

and we all love to know what everyone is doing.

Penelope also is happy that her monthly visit to the dinner meetings has been a

worth while expedition. Like any toy when the owners are asleep she goes to

play with her friends and she feels so very important knowing that her job on a

dinner night brings joy to others.

Your editor

Christine Edney

New Members to Upper Hutt BPW

At our April Dinner Meeting

Nil

Birthdays in May

Elaine White

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Dates for your Diary

May 27

Regional Meeting Palmerston North

July

Candle lighting

August

Upper Hutt BPW 30th Birthday

September

Suffrage Day/White Camellia Awards

Talani thanked the members for their good

wishes on her recent wedding. Photos will be

coming.

*********************************

Trish Gray has been able to cross another item

off her bucket list. She has just been over to

Japan to see the Cherry Blossoms in full

bloom.

**********************************

Angela Mcleod has put in a nomination for the

position of Executive Secretary to BPW Inter-

national. We wish her success in Egypt.

***********************************

Emma has been learning to knit and has been

knitting hats. Emma has filled in the applica-

tion form to join BPW.

*************************************

Heather Newell attended the Multi Cultual-

Group meeting in Upper Hutt and thoroughly

enjoyed herself talking with so many people.

Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 6

Upper Hutt Members on

New Zealand Executive.

Upper Hutt members would like to congratulate our two members on executive

HELLEN SWALES— President

Hellen began her journey by joining with Upper Hutt in 2012. Her first New Zealand meeting

attendance was at the Leadership forum held in Pukekohe in 2013 and from here she has

progressed. Hellen has presented several submissions to Parliament Select Committee on behalf

of BPW New Zealand.

ADELE HARDIE - Treasurer

Adele has been a member of Upper Hutt since 1995. This is the second time Adele has been

treasurer for New Zealand Executive.

Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 7

BPW—Upper Hutt - Committee

President: Sally Kean kean@paradise.net.nz 5263008

Secretary: not filled

Treasurer: Talani Meikle talani@ihug.co.nz 027 4108026

Committee Pauline Whiston paulinewhiston@xtra.co.nz 5280188

Members: Trish Leahy leahys@xtra.co.nz 5285161

BPW—Upper Hutt - Dinner Meetings

Held: 2nd Tuesday of the month .January no meeting

At: The Porterhouse Blues

King Street

UPPER HUTT

Time: 6.30 till 9.00 pm

Cost: $30.00

Beverages can be purchased separately

A chance to network with other members , have a chat over a meal and listen to a guest

speaker

Aims of BPW

BPW aims to unite business and professional women to:

Work for women's:

• economic independence

• equal opportunity and representation in economic, civil and political life

Encourage and support women and girls to:

• develop their professional and leadership potential undertake lifelong education and

training

• use their abilities for the benefit of others, locally, nationally and internationally

Advocate:

• for the elimination of all discrimination against women

• for human rights and the use of gender-sensitive perspective

Undertake: • world-wide networking and co-operation between business and professional women • non-profit projects that help women gain economic independence