Wallace Bain, recently retired coroner for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty spoke about several cases of vulnerable children that have come into his care. These have often been high profile media cases, that he has worked on with politicians and law makers to firstly understand the circumstances and then to revise legislation for the improved care, safety and protection of children. He talked about youth suicide and cyber-bullying and the impacts of a diminishing family unit. He also triumphed over the dramatic reduction in infant deaths through the introduction of ‘pepe-pods’ where previously co-sleeping often resulted in the smothering of infants. His work didn’t stop there, he was also able to influence on-farm and hunting safety measures that have since been implemented due to cases he has had to confront. Earlier this year he released his book “ A coroner speaks for the dead…to protect the living” which sums up his lengthy and interesting career as a coroner.

The evening brought together community members, donors, supporters and ambassadors of the Community Foundation, to focus on making our region an outstanding place to live, work and play.  The evening concluded with a Charity Auction, conducted with aplomb, by professional auctioneer Chris Robson and raised essential funds to continue growing generosity in the Eastern Bay region, contributing to the Foundations mission to build a thriving Eastern Bay, working to build a perpetual fund to support projects that will benefit us all, and our children and their children into the future.  The thanks of all trustees go out to the generous individuals and businesses that contributed to the success of this event through donation of amazing experiences, as seen in the images attached to this article.