14 A good sort:
Hadyn Jones talks about his two contrasting presenting roles.
Hadyn Jones is celebrating a decade of recognising Good Sorts in the community. Given how many submissions he has received in that time it’s fair to say he’s seen it all – creating Good Sorts takes all sorts and all species. “There was a seeing-eye lamb in Christchurch,” says Jones, recalling some memorable moments. “Its mum was blind and kept walking into fences so the lamb would guide her round the paddock. That’s hard to forget. “There was Kawa and Tumbles. They were husband and wife takahe in Te Anau and they couldn’t have children so they would nest fertile eggs and bring the kids into being.” In April, Jones will rack up 10 years of championing the little victories in Kiwi communities, both of the animal and human kind. He still well remembers his first Good Sort – a seven-year-old boy, who arranged a protest against sewage polluting the harbour in Whang rei. “He’d be a 17 year old now and this year we’re going to revisit him along with a whole bunch of other Good Sorts,” says Jones. “There’s heaps of those and people just melt your heart in funny, different ways.” Through the years, Jones says he has met almost 500 Good Sorts. “It’s a bit like speed dating because there’s one a week for about 52 weeks of the year. “There are some that I’ve kept in contact with personally and some that their stories have remained with me so I’m looking forward to going around the country and catching up with them.”