hugely proud to have our long-standing member Paul Dewsbery's contribution to our community recognised with a well-deserved Queen's Service Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours."Rotary really started me off in volunteering," he said. "I was nominated by somebody to join and I've been there ever since."
During his long involvement with Rotary Paul has held many club offices, and served as president of the club from 1998 to 1999. During this time he has been involved in several key community projects and has taken a leading part in several.
Paul has also been involved with the Mountain View Village Trust for 31 years, including eight years as chairman from 2009. "That appealed to me as it is a charitable trust." He played a key role in the development of the 95-home retirement village in Timaru and has also provided support to members of the village community.
He was also on the board of Presbyterian Support South Canterbury from 2007 to 2015 and was involved for 10 years in the establishment and leadership of the Kiwi Can personal development programme for primary school students in South Canterbury.
He was instrumental in building a team to raise funds for and oversee development of the school-based Kiwi Can personal skills programme, and liaising with the schools involved once the programme was established. The programme was delivered to more than 1,200 children in its first year and was integrated into the Christchurch Regional Office of the Graeme Dingle Foundation in 2017.
Paul says becoming involved with volunteering and community groups has had a positive influence in his life. "For nearly all my adult life I've been surrounded by people with positive attitudes and when you're in that environment, some of that rubs off onto you.
"Joining Rotary was a great avenue for community work. I'm still part of Rotary now - they'll probably carry me out in a box."
He said he has made many friends in his time with the organisations. People were either "volunteering-inclined or not", he said. "It's about giving back to the community. Don't talk about it at the time, just get on and do it. "If you see a need think 'that's something I can do'."
He said being in a group with like-minded people has been encouraging and rewarding. "We bounce ideas off each other." Those ideas have included a new plaque for the Jacks Point lighthouse, south of Timaru, and cutting kindling for the region's elderly.
"These are the sorts of things that give you a real buzz," he said.