Both of Taupō's New Year Honours List recipients for 2025 have humbly put their awards down to the efforts of the teams they work with.
King's Service Medal recipient Terry Campbell acknowledged the part fellow Taupō Racing Club committee members play in the club's success and his award, saying the club's goal was to be the 'best country track in the country'.
Club president since 2013, Campbell was awarded his KSM for services to horse racing and governance.
Under his guidance, the award citation noted, the club had increased its membership 40 percent, increased local sponsorship exponentially and was one of the very few in the country to develop its facilities since 2018.
Taupō's other recipient, Kinloch's Belinda Walker, was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her contribution to Kinloch since returning from overseas to New Zealand nine years ago.
The mother of three said teamwork had been important in her MNZM, particularly the support provided by her family who were co-opted into events or enabled her to do things by shouldering the workload at home.
Her citation noted her establishment of the Kinloch Families Trust, and the activities it had helped organise, from Easter and Matariki celebrations to the annual Kinstock Music in the Park Festival, as well as her championing of other community causes in education, sport, road and walking safety and as a representative on other groups and general advocate for improvements in the Kinloch settlement.
