Beneficiary advocate made a difference
Nelson woman Jill Preston spent much of her life advocating for those less fortunate than herself.
Preston was the manager of the Beneficiaries and Unwaged Workers Trust (BUWT) in Nelson for 24 years. She stood down from the role in 2013, but remained a trustee of BUWT until she died earlier this month, aged 79.
Close friend and former colleague Glenys MacLellan said Preston had an impact on thousands of people’s lives during that time.
She liaised with government departments, councils and other community organisations, managing a team that provided support, advocacy and mediation for beneficiaries and people with either low or no wage.
‘‘Just getting somebody an extra $10 a week back in the day actually made a huge difference to whether they could survive well or not.’’
MacLellan said there were significant changes to the welfare system during the 1990s and 2000s and it gradually became more complex, with individuals less able to advocate for themselves and in need of more intensive support. However, she said Preston was very canny and had the ability to pick if someone was trying it on.
She was also very creative in her thinking and her approach to the job. One of her ‘‘brainwaves’’ was to set up a sewing room in the BUWT office so volunteers could mend clothes and others could stop in to use the machines.
Preston was also involved in a huge number of community projects, including setting up the Men’s Night Shelter, Budget Advice, the Nelson Community Organic Gardens Trust, the Nelson Green Dollar Exchange, Manuka House and Community Law.
A leader in advocacy, she worked co-operatively with covernment departments and other agencies instead of fighting against them, MacLellan said. ‘‘She was very good at finding a way through for the benefit of the clients.’’
Preston worked closely with Tasman District Council chief executive Janine Dowding when she was the regional commissioner at
Work and Income. Dowding said Preston ‘‘worked tirelessly’’ to represent those who were not always able to represent themselves.
She said Preston was ‘‘thorough, persistent and sometimes stubborn’’, but the two built a great relationship based on mutual respect and understanding.
‘‘I am extremely sad to hear of her passing, and I trust that she will be celebrated for her selflessness and the difference she has made to so many at times when they would have felt at their most vulnerable.’’
Son Steve Preston said his mother was motivated by a sense of social responsibility and the need to help others live a happy life.
‘‘She could see the difference and the change she was making in people’s lives, and that was really important to her.’’
He said his mother was a ‘‘go-getter’’, and once she had something in her sights, she went for it. She was not afraid to speak out about what she believed in, often commenting on social and political issues in The Nelson Mail.
A fourth-generation Nelsonian, Preston was born at Nelson Hospital on August 18, 1940. She attended Hampden St School and Nelson College for Girls, before heading to Dunedin in 1960 to study English at the University of Otago.
She completed her degree at Victoria University in Wellington in 1962, before going to work at The Dominion as assistant women’s editor.
Preston met her husband Chris in Wellington while she was studying, and the couple were married in 1962.
In 1963, she took up a job as a navy information officer with the Defence Department, before moving back to her home town to work as the Nelson correspondent for The Dominion.
A working holiday in Australia in 1967 turned into a three-year stint, during which she worked as a subeditor at the Kenmore Press and then as an employment officer for the Australian government.
The family returned to Nelson in 1970. Preston became the manager at BUWT in 1989, and remained there until 2013.
A champion indoor bowler, she represented Nelson in the sport for many years and was also an umpire. During the 1980s she was a potter, and was a regular at the Nelson Saturday Market, selling her work around the country and through outlets overseas.
Preston’s health deteriorated in the last three years, and she was on dialysis for kidney issues. She died at Nelson Hospital on August 14.
She is survived by her two children, Steve and Mandy Preston, and 10 grandchildren.
‘‘She will be celebrated for her selflessness and the difference she has made to so many at times when they would have felt at their most vulnerable.’’