Rotary New Zealand turns 100: its past and future

June 25, 2021

Kriddles Roberts sat down with 1 NEWS to discuss the changes Rotary is making to combat its declining membership.

Giving back to the community isn't a 9am to 5pm weekday job for Kriddles Roberts.  

"It's 7 days a week, hustling and getting out there and helping all the families that have been declined by other organisations," she told 1 NEWS.   

Kriddles not only runs her own charity, Unity in Our Community, which provides care packages for struggling families, she is also the youngest female President of Waitākere Rotary. 

“The reason I got involved with Rotary was because of my trust, Unity in Our Community. It's similar work but obviously, the Rotary is worldwide and they're a bigger and a better machine. 

“It's actually the mahi in the community all over the world that I really, really respect.” 

For almost three years, Kriddles has been a part of the organisation, which is celebrating 100 years of enhancing communities through acts of service across New Zealand.  

Through her own life experience, Kriddles understands and knows the needs of those in desperate help.  

“When I was a teenager I went to Australia and unfortunately I became homeless. There was quite a few services over there like Oasis Crisis Centre and all of that. All of their services, they really helped me and some of them didn't.

“When you are on ground zero that's where it's at instead of looking down and thinking ‘oh I think I know what they need’ but when you are on ground zero you know.

“That's how I have combined what I do into my trust and also with Waitākere Rotary.” 

There are over 250 clubs across New Zealand, with around 7,000 members. However, membership's declining.  

Kriddles has been described as the changing face of Rotary, which needs to diversify and attract younger members to keep the organisation and its legacy alive in our communities.  

There are challenges that historian Stephen Clarke points out in his new book, Mana Tangata: People in Action, which showcases the rich history of Rotary for its 100th birthday.  

Historian Stephen Clark points out how many Kiwis are wanting to follow suit in giving back to the community.

“At the book launch recently, the Deputy Prime Minister, Grant Robertson, touched on a point that I saw in terms of the research for the book,” he told 1 NEWS.  

“There’s a generation that is already doing that service, always thinking beyond themselves and I think in terms of the connection for Rotary going forward, here's a whole generation that they can go forward together with into the future.  

“Rotary is starting to really transform itself. There is a lot of younger presidents and members coming into Rotary. It's small but it really punches above its weight in terms of what it’s doing in our communities.” 

For two and a half years, Stephen interviewed those involved in clubs from the top of the North Island, right down to Invercargill to reflect on Rotary’s past and new path ahead. 

“Rotary started in Chicago in 1905. Chicago was quite lawless, and it had a lot of big business starting up. So it had huge wealth there but there was also a lot of poverty,” he told 1 NEWS.  

“The professionals and small business people said they were getting lost and they wanted to come together and they wanted to come together to work with each other but also to serve in their communities. That was introduced in New Zealand in 1921 and it was the jazz age and it just took off. Most main centres had Rotary by the late 1920s. They just really struck with New Zealanders.” 

Clarke says Rotary really took off on our shores after the Second World War. 

“They were really building all those playgrounds and concrete pools and, in their communities, and the new suburbs and it's continued to play a role. Lots of environmental programmes, cleaning up streams, planting trees. Probably the biggest thing and I didn't know about it going into this history was the work in terms of the eradication of Polio.” 

“Rotary is definitely changing but in New Zealand, it's been a leader in terms of that equality.” 

A New Zealand Rotary club sign.

And a leader showcasing change is Kriddles.  

“I really have big love and respect for my team,” Kriddles Roberts said.  

“We have done quite a lot, including overseas. We've built a ramp for a kaumātua that was a double amputee. She was on a waiting list which was too long.

"So, my crew, we all had a good meeting and put it on the table, and they all turned up with their tools and all their toys and they just made it happen.

“Each time we have a community project I learn off them because I'm not a builder but because they all have great trades behind them and knowledge and they are great teachers, I can also learn as well.” 

A long-time supporter of Kriddles and her work is Tigilau Ness, a musician, political activist, and Polynesian Panther.  

“I’ve seen her grow from a young woman to what she's doing today as president elected and drawing people around her to further her cause which is to develop the community, empower the people in the community, feed them, seen her grow stronger every time and she's getting the recognition now that she fully deserves,” he told 1 NEWS.   

“Part of New Zealand’s history’s being the first country in the world to allow women to vote. So Kriddles now being a president in the Rotary foundation going forward, this is part of history here."  

“I'm just so proud to know Kriddles and see her work and the people around her pulling and facilitating all the good things in the community with good people.

"That is her strength. She can put people together that are prepared to work and can do the community a service without any reparation or reward. It's out of love, you can see.” 

Kriddles Roberts sat down with 1 NEWS to discuss the changes Rotary is making to combat its declining membership.

Kriddles is one of 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide living out the organisation’s motto, Service Above Self.  

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