Ian Hughes’ legacy to Cambridge earned high praise at a farewell marking his retirement after 15 years with the Cambridge Safer Community Charitable Trust, most of those spent as chairman.
The then new partnership of Hannah Glover and Ian Hughes in 2018 prepare to take neighbourhood support to the next stage.
The Trust, which operates the Cambridge Neighbourhood Support group and the Cambridge Community Patrol, was formed in 2010 to make Cambridge’s residential, business and industrial areas safer. They work in conjunction with police, civil defence and fire and emergency services to strengthen connections, boost safety and enhance emergency preparedness and wellbeing in the community. There are now 3183 households registered with neighbourhood support, and it has a growing digital following.
Jocelyn Cooney, who has taken over as Trust chair, told those at the farewell Hughes was leaving behind him a ‘strong legacy, one built on compassion and integrity’.
“Ian, on behalf of the Cambridge community, I want to sincerely thank you for your outstanding leadership, dedication and the steady guidance you have given over the last 15 plus years. Your passion for our cause and your commitment to the values of our organisation have shaped where we are today.”
She said he had led the organisation with ‘wisdom, calm and just the right amount of laughter’.
Hughes has long been a community man. He was a teacher and principal at Cambridge Middle School, and education manager for Life Education NZ. His link with the latter, an organisation inspiring health and wellbeing among young Kiwis through the teachings of Harold the Giraffe, came during five years he and his wife Jocelyn spent in Wellington. He has also been involved with the Hautapu Rugby Club and had ties with the Cambridge Community Marae.
“We always intended to come back to Cambridge, and when we did, I became an education consultant for five years or so,” he told The News. “In that role, I moved around most of the schools in the region.”
He joined the first iteration of neighbourhood watch at the behest of two other community stalwarts, now both passed, then Cambridge police sergeant Gordon Grantham and Rob Feisst.
“They were the real instigators of it. They wanted people in the community to join… and they did.”
Judi Smythe became the first secretary and when Ruru the Owl was unveiled as the Trust’s new mascot in 2013, it was Smythe who dressed the part at community events.
“That was terrific for the kids,” Hughes said.
The safety message he and his team continue to promote goes into schools, aged care homes, residential villages, and through residential suburbs and business areas encompassing the wider fringes of Cambridge.
Times have changed since Hughes started with the Trust. The need for it was questioned by some early on, but now the community is grateful for the nightly patrols done by Neil Bridgland’s neighbourhood watch teams, and for the generous community support.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute of the last 15 years,” Hughes said, “but it’s now time for some new blood. The Trust still operates out of the cricket pavilion in Victoria Square and I’m lucky in that they’ve asked me to duck in and out once in a while. I reckon I might just do that.”
