Sport and St John’s work mix well
Martin Mackereth has done a lot in his life – the most memorable being the frontline ambulance work he did in Christchurch after the earthquake in 2011.
The 6.3 earthquake killed 185 people.
Mackereth was called to Christchurch two days after the quake struck and stayed for two weeks. Some of his work was in welfare centres in the Wigram and QEII Park areas.
He has been a volunteer St John emergency medical technician in Gore for 10 years. His qualification is a level down from a paramedic.
Mackereth, who joined the Gore St John 11 years ago, is deputy chairman of the Hokonui area committee. He gained a special memory last week when St John moved its operations division in the town – shifting from the main Invercargill-Gore highway to Charlton Rd.
‘‘Last Monday, Bev Cruickshank and I did the last night shift in the old building and on Tuesday, we did the first night shift at Charlton Rd,’’ Mackereth said.
He fits the St John’s work in around his main employment as a connecting communities advisor for Sport Southland in eastern Southland.
Mackereth works with groups and clubs to help them maximise the resources and sporting opportunities available to them.
‘‘We’re not there to take over what they’re doing, we’re there to enhance what they’re doing,’’ Mackereth said.
One of his Sport Southland roles is overseeing the Swim Safe Southland programme which involves 39 rural primary schools and 3200 children. Swimming instructors visit the schools to talk to pupils and teachers.
Rural schools with swimming pools host children from schools that don’t have the facility.
In his spare time, he coaches two hockey teams in the autumn and winter and is president of the Gore Gymnastics Club, as well as a gymnastics coach.
The club, which uses the Gore High School gymnasium, has 150 members and a waiting list of 50.
‘‘Seeing people complete or do something they haven’t been able to do before is pleasing,’’ Mackereth said.
‘‘Seeing the smile on their faces is great.’’
Mackereth started his working life as auto electrician in his father’s business in Auckland.
He was then second in charge at the Takapuna Aquatics Centre and during his time there, became a swimming coach and a diving instructor.
Before moving to Gore in 2006, Mackereth spent time in Nelson managing two aquatic centres and being a member of Urban Search and Rescue.
Interestingly, he changed his surname from Winkle to Mackereth in 2000 when marrying Kerri. He did it for two reasons. Martin thought if Kerri became Kerri Winkle, people could ‘‘poke fun’’ at her name.
The other reason was that Kerri had no brothers, so her family name could not be passed down to the next generation.
Martin and Kerri have three children.