Life Membership for Coastguard Canterbury Volunteer

Rachel McKenzie has been made a ‘Life Member’ of Coastguard Canterbury in recognition of her exemplary service over 20 years.  Winner of the national Coastguard Volunteer of the Year Award in 2010, Rachel is the first to be called in any incident and attends the majority of calls outs as Skipper, Crew, SAR Controller or simply as Duty Officer.

She is involved in training at every level in the unit, both theory and practical.  She has a calm commonsense
manner about her and brings her experience to bear while training team members.  All of the current 35 members of the unit have and continue to experience her effectiveness in training and the entire unit benefits from her experience.

At the organizational level, Rachel has been an active board member for the past 7 years and has contributed to revitalizing the unit. She has actively participated in every aspect of governance – strategy, policy development, financial supervision, unit restructuring, recruitment and so on.  Rachel brings her experience to the table but does not rely solely on the past, she actively looks for the best solution using resources from within and without the Unit.  The unit has grown stronger during Rachel’s time on the board and she has assisted in transitioning the unit to the current well integrated and highly functioning unit of today.

Rachel has contributed selflessly to the growth of  Coastguard Canterbury and our region.   She is the best example of the characteristics of volunteers needed for Coastguard.