Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 1
Upper Hutt Business & Professional Women
NEWSLETTER— May 2017
WELL DONE UPPER HUTT
WINNERS OF THE
Alix Haywood Award—for our Newsletter
Pauline Gapper Nepal Literacy Award—for
funds raised for Nepal Literacy
Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 2
The 2017 Conference was held 21-23 April 2017 at the beautiful
Oruawharo Homestead, Takapau just a 20 minute drive south of
Waipukurau, hosted by Central Hawkes Bay.
BPW Upper Hutt was represented by Elaine White and Sally Kean as
delegates and Talani Meikle as an observer. Angela McLeod and
Adele Hardie also attended as of course was the incoming New
Zealand President, our own Hellen Swales.
Firstly, congratulations to Hellen Swales on her new role as New Zealand President of BPW. Hellen I am
sure the Upper Hutt BPW members will offer you all the support they possibly can over the period of your
term of office.
To Adele Hardie, congratulations on winning the nomination as National Treasurer, a position Adele has
held before so she knows the ropes well.
I arrived in Waipukurau very early Friday afternoon and after booking in at the Fergusson Motor Inn I
drove out to the Oruawharo Homestead to deliver a planter box my son Byron had donated to BPW as a
raffle prize. I got there and just went “Wow, I could so live here”. Oruawharo was built in 1879,
designed by Wellington architect Charles Tringham and built by a D McLeod of Waipukurau and was
purchased in December 2000 by Peter and Dianne Harris (Dianne is a member of BPW Central Hawkes
Bay). Peter and Dianne set about restoring this beautiful home which had been left empty for over 25
years following the departure of some nuns. It holds a Heritage New Zealand Category 1 classification.
I could go on and on as I love these homes but for me the most beautiful piece of this building is the roof in
the ballroom which is constructed of wooden pieces like a mosaic.
A few years ago, the Catholic church in Takapau was decommissioned and it was offered to Peter and
Dianne. They took it and it now sits on their property and is used for conferences and weddings – people
come from all round the world to get married there. Executive stayed in the homestead in gorgeous rooms
– some fully refurbished, others still being refurbished. The two huge light fittings in the church are pieces
of art in themselves – designed by a famous New Zealand wood sculptor.
There were some workshops offered on Friday afternoon for first time conference attendees to a budget
finance session. We were ferried to and from Conference in mini buses from our motels and all dressed
up in our finery we headed out to Oruawharu late on Friday afternoon for the President’s cocktail party
followed by the Awards Dinner. This was a glittering affair – white linen table cloths, beautiful flower
decorations on each table, place name tags and menu all specially prepared for us. The meal used local
produce the meat coming from the Silver Fern Abbatoir
about two kilometres from the Conference. As already
announced to you, Upper Hutt won the Nepal Literacy
Fund award for raising the most money and the Alix
Haywood publicity award. We were very proud as it is a
while since we won a national award. The guest speaker
was Sally Jackson Napier City Council’s Manager of
Visitor Experiences but previously General Manager of the
Napier Art Deco Trust.
2017 Conference report from our President
Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 3
Saturday morning and at 8.30 am we were starting the work of the Annual Conference. The reports from
the office holders were presented and then the treasurer’s report. Dues for 2018 will increase by $2 to $77
per member in line with the increase of 1 Euro in International Dues. The Margery Toulson candidate
Ciaren Torrington from BPW Kaitaia presented her speech – after being grilled in a separate interview,
Ciaren won this award.
Resolutions were started prior to lunch and to be honest were a bit chaotic at times and were finally finished
off on Sunday morning. All the Resolutions were passed including those we chose as a Club to vote
against. The dissolution of the Massey University Extramural Study Award was passed but in the end
Executive have agreed to look into this as it is believed that the Margery Toulsen Award may contravene
the new Incorporated Societies Act. There was a lot of discussion around Young BPW and basically in the
end, it was agreed that Young BPW should attend the International Congress and their registration fees for
the BPW New Zealand Conference could be reduced but the difference will be met and funded by BPW
New Zealand so the organising committee is not affected. The Protection Order and Police Safety Order
breach resolutions were passed unanimously. If you would like further detail please see me afterwards.
After lunch on Saturday, there was a panel presentation by young women from rural Hawkes Bay which
was really interesting. They were Gretchen King who has developed some agricultural software, Justine
Kidd, CEO of Agribusiness, Mavis Mullins Chair Poutamu and Taratahi Ag Centre based in Masterton,
Sally Maguire a local artist and PJ White who manufactures cheese under the Century Hill Organics brand.
The 1960’s themed Saturday night dinner was a roaring success – we were all allocated to tables with an
artist from the 1960’s – Upper Hutt were at an Englebert Humperdink table and so we had to sing one of his
songs – Please Release Me. It was so much fun.
Sunday morning, another glorious day and we finished off the Resolutions, WEPS report, a presentation
from Te Aroha Hohaia from Hawera on her governance journey and the announcement of the election of
officers.
The new executive are:
Hellen Swales - President
Janet Gibb - First Vice President
Sally Smith - Second Vice President
Christine Berridge - Secretary
Adele Hardie -Treasurer
Lorraine Cameron -IT Administrator
Vivien Yeung - Young BPW
Vicky Mee -Immediate Past President
After lunch on Sunday it was the normal closing of conference activity – bidding for the next conference
won by BPW Wellsford and a combination of BPW Wellington, Upper Hutt and Hawera have won the
right to stage the 2019 80th Anniversary Conference.
A presentation was made to Vicky Mee which was well-deserved following her three years as President.
The entire conference was so well organised, the venue amazing, food incredible,
and the conversation, catching up with people was like icing on the cake. A huge
thank you to the Central Hawkes Bay organising committee.
Sally Kean
President
Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 4
Dinner Meetings
May Speaker: Carolyn O’Fallon
National Party Candidate
Rimutaka Electorate
Guests: Siobhan From Wellington Club and
also chair of BPW NZ Legislation Task Force.
Carolyn is from Vancouver,
Canada where her childhood
was average and certainly not
privileged. In 1988 she came
to New Zealand to study for a
PhD in social policy. She met
and married a southlander and
they have three grown children.
Carolyn is currently a principal advisor for a
central government department, and formerly
the Director of Pinnacle Research & Policy
where she has led projects for several govern-
ment agencies for nearly 20 years. She has
worked in the transport sector as a researcher
and policy advisor.
While her children Carolyn started the concept
of the walking school bus which has been
adopted around the country.
Carolyn was part of the project for monitoring
framework for the walking and cycling tracks
around New Zealand.
Carolyn had a dream of being involved in poli-
tics and would like to make that dream come
true in a few months time. She enjoys meeting
people and will be out and about door knocking
involved in seeking election which will be a lot
of fun and at times very testing. She has al-
ready had a few interesting experiences which
she shared with the group.
Carolyn spoke of the challenges for young
women and there are not many women working
in the field of technology.
***************************
June meeting: 13 June
Speaker: Deb Cranko—Architect
Deb won the inaugural Professional Woman of the Year
Award in the NAWIC Excellence Awards in 2015.
Donations for food bank this month:
Refer to the dinner invitation
Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 5
Members Page This page is where we can add what you our members have been up to.
Note from the Editor
I was very please that Upper Hutt won the newsletter award and thanks to our members for giving
me the news to report especially the two minute wonders. Keep them coming in as it is your page
and we all love to know what everyone is doing.
Penelope also is happy that her monthly visit to the dinner meetings has been a
worth while expedition. Like any toy when the owners are asleep she goes to
play with her friends and she feels so very important knowing that her job on a
dinner night brings joy to others.
Your editor
Christine Edney
New Members to Upper Hutt BPW
At our April Dinner Meeting
Nil
Birthdays in May
Elaine White
************************************
Dates for your Diary
May 27
Regional Meeting Palmerston North
July
Candle lighting
August
Upper Hutt BPW 30th Birthday
September
Suffrage Day/White Camellia Awards
Talani thanked the members for their good
wishes on her recent wedding. Photos will be
coming.
*********************************
Trish Gray has been able to cross another item
off her bucket list. She has just been over to
Japan to see the Cherry Blossoms in full
bloom.
**********************************
Angela Mcleod has put in a nomination for the
position of Executive Secretary to BPW Inter-
national. We wish her success in Egypt.
***********************************
Emma has been learning to knit and has been
knitting hats. Emma has filled in the applica-
tion form to join BPW.
*************************************
Heather Newell attended the Multi Cultual-
Group meeting in Upper Hutt and thoroughly
enjoyed herself talking with so many people.
Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 6
Upper Hutt Members on
New Zealand Executive.
Upper Hutt members would like to congratulate our two members on executive
HELLEN SWALES— President
Hellen began her journey by joining with Upper Hutt in 2012. Her first New Zealand meeting
attendance was at the Leadership forum held in Pukekohe in 2013 and from here she has
progressed. Hellen has presented several submissions to Parliament Select Committee on behalf
of BPW New Zealand.
ADELE HARDIE - Treasurer
Adele has been a member of Upper Hutt since 1995. This is the second time Adele has been
treasurer for New Zealand Executive.
Upper Hutt BPW NZ Newsletter May 2017 7
BPW—Upper Hutt - Committee
President: Sally Kean [email protected] 5263008
Secretary: not filled
Treasurer: Talani Meikle [email protected] 027 4108026
Committee Pauline Whiston [email protected] 5280188
Members: Trish Leahy [email protected] 5285161
BPW—Upper Hutt - Dinner Meetings
Held: 2nd Tuesday of the month .January no meeting
At: The Porterhouse Blues
King Street
UPPER HUTT
Time: 6.30 till 9.00 pm
Cost: $30.00
Beverages can be purchased separately
A chance to network with other members , have a chat over a meal and listen to a guest
speaker
Aims of BPW
BPW aims to unite business and professional women to:
Work for women's:
• economic independence
• equal opportunity and representation in economic, civil and political life
Encourage and support women and girls to:
• develop their professional and leadership potential undertake lifelong education and
training
• use their abilities for the benefit of others, locally, nationally and internationally
Advocate:
• for the elimination of all discrimination against women
• for human rights and the use of gender-sensitive perspective
Undertake: • world-wide networking and co-operation between business and professional women • non-profit projects that help women gain economic independence