Volunteer makes his way to top charity job
Neil Taylor popped into the IHC office in Hawera 40 years ago and asked if he could help.
Now, he’s just been appointed as chairman of the IHC’s national board.
IHC is nationwide charity which advocates for the rights, inclusion and welfare of all people with intellectual disabilities.
Taylor’s first visit in Hawera four decades ago began an association that has enriched his life in ways he hadn’t imagined in 1979, when he decided to find a charity to support, he said.
‘‘When I went into partnership with Paul Harris (in Harris Taylor Chartered Accountants), we decided one of the values of our firm was we would both going to give back to the community. Paul gave 50 years of his life to the scouts and I chose the IHC.’’
Taylor had no children of his own with disabilities, but his accountancy and governance skills were very welcome.
‘‘It’s absolutely enriched my life. Being a chartered accountant commercially on the one hand and being involved with charity on the other, and its been great for my children and grandchildren, the children accept disability, they’re able to accept disabled children in the playground and talk to them’’.
He had made lifelong friendships as well.
‘‘When I first started there were all these young mothers in Hawera fighting for the rights of their disabled children, they were absolutely committed and determined their children were going to have a decent education and be properly cared for. A lot of these mothers are older adults now and their children are adults and they’re still friends of mine,’’ he said.
‘‘Those days were exciting. Each branch did their own fundraising. South Taranaki was asked to raise $60,000 per annum, and we achieved that.’’
Taylor was South Taranaki branch president from 1986 to 1996 and also served as IHC vice president, and on the board of both IHC and Accessible Properties Ltd.
In 1998 he was made a NZ life member of IHC.
Closer to home, he now has an extra special reason for his work.
‘‘We now have a granddaughter, Molly, who has some disabilities, she’s beautiful and she’s a treasure of a child. The other grandchildren love her. ‘‘