Reluctant leader finds willing help

Kim Ward Community Spirit It is a wonder Paremoremo’s Kim Ward has time to sleep.

When she isn’t running her own business and caring for her family, she is editing the Paremoremo magazine, sending out weekly local newsletters, logging neighbourhood pets, co-ordinating tree planting, assisting with the Albany Community House, meeting with the council, forming partnerships with the Paremoremo Prison and the list goes on.

Mrs Ward has been nominated for the Pride of New Zealand Community Spirit Award. “She is not just the skeleton, body, heart and brain of the community, she is the community,” her nominator said. Kim Ward has a long list of community responsibilities.

She describes herself as a reluctant leader but realised “if you lead, even if you don’t really want to be the leader, people are more than happy to help”.

When she wanted to clean the walls of the community house in preparation for painting, she organised a sugar-soaping day.

“Twenty-five people turned up. It took only an hour and the rest of the time we stood around having cups of tea and biscuits.”

Mrs Ward has lived in Paremoremo for 16 years. She took up the Pare Publisher editor role two years ago, afraid it would die when its former editor left.

Situated nearly 10km from Albany without a shop, bus service or local paper delivery, Paremoremo is in its own “bubble”.

But her many projects, including creating a local phone directory and helping start 11 neighbourhood-watch groups allows the community to stay connected.

Mrs Ward said the prison’s relationship with the community has developed positively since they have become more interactive. She hopes to include prisoners in the revegetation and restoration of native bush and trees at the reserve.

Mrs Ward was surprised and flattered to be nominated for the award.

“I’ve been reading these Pride of New Zealand profiles and I think ‘god these people are amazing, big-hearted and kind’, and I just do it because I like it.”