Leading from the front issuu

”Pat helped the Y become more racially tolerant,
and he led the way well before the general public
became aware of our social shortcomings”.
ross duncan
A THRIVING YMCA EVOLVES
by ross duncan — ymca colleague
My first recollection of Pat Magill goes back to the Rugby
Union days when he was chairman of the Hawke’s Bay
Rugby Union.
This was around 1968, when Guy Baillie was chairman
and Ray Whiteman as general secretary restarted the
Hastings YMCA after its building’s demise following the
1931 earthquake. I joined the Y when I was 12 and years
later Pat and I met again in the Methodist facilities opposite
the Hastings Opera House. I won a scholarship
to the Y Training facility at Homebush in Sydney in 1958
and then returned to become a youth worker for the
Hastings Y.
About this time Pat was working to re-establish the
Napier Y with Colin Coates as secretary, then Doug
Fraser and Jim Thorne on the board too. Under Pat’s
chairmanship for nine years, a thriving YMCA evolved.
With programmes shifting from central Napier to Latham
St, much innovative youth work was undertaken, especially
the creation of the Downtown Y, or more widely
known as “The Pub With No Beer”. This was an innovative
programme for youth with a strong emphasis on young
Māori people, and the Kel Tremain sponsored Taupo-to-
Napier walk to help raise awareness in this area.
Around this time Pat became actively involved in National
Y activities, becoming NZ chair for some time for
which he was made a life member, both locally and nationally.
It was at this time that Pat helped the Y become
racially more tolerant and he led the way well before the
general public became aware of our social shortcomings.
People like Denis O’Reilly, Mike McCallum, George
Briggs and Peter Darracott helped transition to a more
racially acceptable organisation under Pat’s guidance
and influence.
The Camp at Opotama was operating at this time and
Pat played a part in this venture and helped thousands
of Hawke’s Bay youth in their growing up process. Since
that time Pat has been a powerful driver of the multicultural
message and always works to get a better outcome
for the less privileged members of our society.
His message was so pragmatically brought home to me
when I sat beside him in the Wednesday court vigil and
witnessed the ruined lives and despair in our antiquated
judicial system.
Pat has been a power house in the Napier Pilot City
Trust, trying to lead Napier to be a kinder, fairer city, and
for our young ones, a Child Friendly City. Thanks Pat, for
taking us along on a part of your great journey — thank
you for the ride.
Ngaire and Ross Duncan at Pat’s 93rd at Kopupatiki Marae, in Clive; staunch, loyal supporters above and beyond.
80
Napier YMCA transformed and the Downtown Y is born