Mrs Margaret Baker, of Hastings, ONZM, for services to Special Olympics
Margaret Baker has been the Sports Coordinator for the Hawke’s Bay Special Olympics programme for more than 30 years and Chair of the Special Olympics North Island Committee.
She travelled overseas to two Special Olympics World Games as the head coach of successful New Zealand swimming and golf teams.
She has been the Hawke’s Bay team manager for seven successive New Zealand Special Olympics National Summer games and regularly coaches golf, swimming and bocce.
She introduced golf into the Hawke’s Bay Special Olympics programme. She organises day trips and weekends away for athletes to compete against peers, and organises fundraisers for various Special Olympics events, sports equipment and uniforms.
Ms Baker is a Trustee of Hawke’s Bay Breast Cancer Trust and was Trustee of Clive War Memorial Pool.