Memorial to mate wins youth award

May 20 was the day Te Awhiahua Toko was suppose to turn 18. Instead her friend Rachael Rickard held a memorial service for her.

Toko had died a month earlier on April 19, 2016, from stab wounds inflicted by Paul Keith Skipper, 40.

The memorial in the Avalon Pavilion was attended by 60 to 70 people including those from Spain, Mexico, America, Asia, India - basically ‘‘any country you could point to on a map’’.

For that the Taita teenager won the Youth Infusion Hutt City Youth Award for Embracing Diversity for creating an event where people of different backgrounds could come together for mutual support during a time of grief.

The 18-year-old said the funeral did not give the community enough time before Toko’s body was taken back to her hometown of Gisborne.

‘‘She had really wanted a bonfire for her birthday,’’ the Taita teenager said.

Although rain put a stop to that, tributes soon flowed. At first no-one wanted to make a speech but then they ‘‘went on and on, after being shy, and we were running out of time’’.

The Year 13 students had been friends since they started at Naenae College. Rickard remembered her as bubbly, adventurous and creative.

‘‘I never liked makeup until she did my eyebrows, which I didn’t like at first because they were too dark, but then, hello, I was playing with makeup.’’

Toko’s photographic creativity was well documented on her Instagram account.

Since her friend’s violent death Rickard had become more wary and ‘‘picked up people’s reactions’’. She encouraged anyone who was worried about their safety to speak up.

In August, Skipper pleaded guilty to murdering Toko and is due to be sentenced in November.