Growing up in state housing in Port Chalmers with a humble family gave Trevor Marshall an appreciation that giving back was part of life.
The Ruby Bay veteran volunteer, notably with Whakatū Rotary, was awarded a King’s Service Medal in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours for services to the community.
Trevor says the honour “came as a surprise”, and it was recognition of not just himself, but also his whānau, friends, and the myriad of organisations he’s served with.
“There’s a whole range of projects that I’m involved with, and it all takes a team effort, and it’s never just one person,” he says.
“I was a policeman for 24 years, and part of the reason for joining the police was I wanted to help people… and even after I left the police, I’ve been involved with a lot of community organisations and events, I am a big believer in giving back.”
Trevor volunteered with the New Zealand Police Association from 1983 to 1993, chairing the Christchurch branch and was its regional director for Tasman and Canterbury. He was also the South Island coordinator for the Police Association Child Safety Handbook launch in 1992, personally raising $1 million for the project.
After retiring from the Police in 1993, having served in Levin, Wellington and Christchurch, Trevor established his own business building retirement villages, and he currently operates a development company with his son David. He joined Whakatū Rotary in 2005 and has coordinated projects such as the $2.2 million refurbishment of the Lake Rotoiti Outdoor Education Lodge between 2018 and 2020.
It was one of the first projects that united nine Rotary clubs from the Top of the South.
“It was long overdue for a refurbishment… they had a programme to try and redo the kitchen over a 10-year programme, we did it all basically in 18 months,” he says.
“Not just the kitchen, but also double glazing with new equipment, new furnishings, new insulation, extra storage vehicles for the staff to use, a big deck, and stand-up paddleboards.
“It has completely transformed their working environment and also what they can offer to people… it’s really important that we have stuff there for youth, the old story, a kid in sport stays out of court.”
Trevor has also supported Rotary projects overseas to construct $20,000 school buildings following earthquakes in Nepal and hurricanes in Fiji, which involved living with the locals in their affected communities.
“Some of the stuff we were staying in in Nepal, they were the houses that had collapsed, they were living under roofs… while we were living with them it was a really special time in their lives,” he says.
“There was no government assistance or grants or anything like that, so we worked in those affected areas, and we took over a few things like some footballs and basketballs for the communities, and to us it’s nothing, to them, it’s a huge amount.”
Trevor’s community service also includes overseeing the annual Big Brothers Big Sisters Fishing Day since 2021, which unifies mentors and their child mentees through Rotary and Dawn Breakers Fishing Club for a fishing boat trip in Tasman Bay.
He’s raised funds to purchase laptops for Bronte House, coordinated the 2008 and 2009 Nelson Motorbike shows to raise community funds, and he has chaired the Nelson Santa Parade Trust since 2020.
Trevor also leads the Māpua Boat Ramp Community Trust to enable construction of a new boat ramp at the seaside village, and the ramp’s resource consent process is currently underway.
The “young 70-year-old” has no plans to slow down, and is currently relishing in the Whakatū Rotary community mobile hub distribution, which are designed to aid emergency services in disasters, and provide public assistance.
“We’ve got one in Nelson, we’ve delivered one to Blenheim, and we’ve got another one coming in for Tasman soon,” he says.
“We would love to see them throughout New Zealand and even in the Pacific. At some point I’ll probably like to step back a wee bit, but at the moment, I’m just having too much fun.”
