Local family receives Amnesty International Award

Marlene Ware, left, Alyn Ware, Ani Ware, Sue Ware and presenter Stuart Crosby. Supplied Photo.

A Tauranga family involved in activism have been awarded with the Amnesty International Robert Anderson Memorial Award.

Presented to the Ware family at the Amnesty International Tree in the Wharepai Domain, the award recognises a person or group that is active in social justice, peace or human rights.

The occasion has also marks the disbandment of the Tauranga Moana Amnesty International, which has been active since the Springbok tour to today.

'We've done so much over our years of service. More than two scrapbooks full. We're all getting older now, so it's time for us to disband,” says Tauranga Moana Amnesty International coordinator Dolores Flynn-Edge.

Dolores was a joint coordinator with Gary Ware, who passed away in 2018.

Dolores says that Gary's service and volunteer work is another reason that they have decided to present the Ware family with the award.

'The Ware family has been extremely active all over the world. The work they have been providing makes them extremely worthy of the award.”

The award has been given to Marlene Ware, Ani Ware, Gary Ware and Sue Ware, who have all contributed an outstanding level of volunteering and activism both internationally and in the Tauranga community.

Some of the families' accomplishments are:

Marlene Ware:

  • Established BAASS, Bay Area Aids Support Service, providing information, education and a support group for people with HIV/AIDs.
  • Co-facilitated Project Waitangi, a series of workshops for Pakeha organisations on understanding Te Tiriti, and supported actions locally by Tangata Whenua.
  • Volunteered at the Citizens Advice Bureau for 11 years, as well as Living Without Violence.
  • Active member of Closing the Gap, a local group attempting to raise the issues of inequality, locally and nationally.
  • Assisted with Food Rescue/Good Neighbour to redistribute excess food from supermarkets to local charities.

Ani Ware:

  • Cared for and support disadvantaged and sometimes abused young people who struggled educationally, socially and emotionally.
  • Helped countless people through difficult situations, including a young person that was living with severe dyslexia in an unsafe environment. This person has now been able to gain professional qualifications and has been an important and valued employee in their local community.
  • Currently is working with children who have special needs in early childhood education.

Gary Ware:

  • 15 year membership at Lion's International, where he held every executive position.
  • President of the Tauranga College Old Pupils Association for 40 years, where he held the 25th, 50th, 65th and 70th reunions.
  • Environmental volunteering in which he attended to the predator control at Aongatete and Mauo, as well as six citizens science assignments internationally, collecting data for research scientists.
  • Active member of Closing the Gap, a local group attempting to raise the issues of inequality, locally and nationally.
  • Co-leader of Amnesty International with Dolores Flynn-Edge of Al Tauranga Moana, supporting prisoners of conscience, street collections and for 25 years organising fundraising for jazz concert.
  • Assisted with Food Rescue/Good Neighbour to redistribute excess food from supermarkets to local charities.

Sue Ware:

  • Active with Sisters Overseas Service, supporting women's access to reproductive choice.
  • Rape crisis volunteer and trainer in Napier and Queenstown.
  • Instructed self defense for women for 24 years.
  • Provided social/community work at Nelson Women's Centre.
  • Active at Greenpeace International for 10 years. This included, subsequent to the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, sailing to Moruroa on the Greenpeace boat, Vega. The four person crew was captured by the French Navy for crossing the 12 mile territorial limit in an endeavour to prevent the French testing of a nuclear bomb.
  • Delivered provisions and a small runabout boat to the Marshall Island people who had been relocated due to radioactive fallout from the United States nuclear testing in the 1950s.

Alyn Ware:

  • Co-founder and Global Coordinator of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (USA), Peace and Disarmament Programs Director for the World Future Council (Germany), Director of the Basel Peace Office (Switzerland) and International Representative for Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace (the New Zealand affiliate of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms). He previously served as Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy (USA).
  • Director and founder of the Mobile Peace Van.
  • Co-founded a number of peace education initiatives including Our Planet in Every Classroom.
  • Member of Department of Education Advisory Group that developed the New Zealand guidelines for integrating peace studies into the national school curriculum.
  • Leader of a successful campaign to prohibit nuclear weapons from New Zealand in the 1980s.
  • Co-founded a number of peace initiatives including Abolition 2000, Middle Powers Initiative, Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, UNFOLD ZERO and NoFirstUse Global.
  • Winner of several peace awards including the Right Livelihood Award (Sweden), Alliance for Nuclear Accountability Award (USA), World Peace Award (Canada), United Nations International Year for Peace Award (NZ) and Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Award (NZ), and has been nominated a number of times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

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1 comment

Great Family

Posted on 07-04-2022 18:55 | By gsouthon

Wow - what a great set of achievements. It is amazing what can be achieved when one tries.


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