Recognition for once “unemployable” man

February 1 2012

Recognition for once “unemployable” man

The Dunedin man who reckons he was once unemployable has made it to the final three nominees for the 2012 Senior New Zealander of the Year Award for his work in the community.

The award recognises people aged over 60 who have made a positive contribution to the welfare of New Zealand through excellence in their chosen field. A winner will be announced in Auckland on February 16.

Dunedin-based Mr Cameron is a well-known leading social entrepreneur. He not only launched the Malcam Trust in Dunedin in 1995, helping provide life skills and work experience programmes to disadvantaged youth, but was also involved in the launch and/or development of around 60 other programmes and trusts. These include the Youth Service Corps, Conservation Corps, Logan Park Services Academy, The Princes Trust, 4 Trades, SuperGrans and the Restore Recycling Emporium, Neighbourhood Support, and Lend a Hand Foundation.

He started the Malcam Trust 17 years ago after being unemployed for a year. He joked that he only started the trust because he was unemployable. One of the keys to his success with the Malcam Trust was being able to truly empathise with the youth because he was a challenging youngster himself.

“I can stand in these kids’ shoes. I got send as a fourth former to spend a year with my grandmother and some maiden aunts to get me to scholastically improve myself. It was like farting against thunder; it didn’t work. I wouldn’t describe myself as a tearaway, but I’ve got an ADHD personality…My CV looks like the yellow pages for a small town really.”

He had been delighted over the years with the huge achievements of people he had helped, but often it was the small things he remembered, like the teenage boy who, after being on a course for just a week, hung the washing out for the first time without being asked, astounding his mother.

He still begins work at 5am each weekday and finishes around 10pm, despite stepping back from running the trust two years ago. Nowadays he focuses on creating employment initiatives for youth and social enterprise development for the trust.

He attributed his success to his wife Annabel and family and the “clever people” he surrounded himself with. However, Malcam Trust CEO Rosey McConnon said the success of the trust and other programmes would not have happened without Mr Cameron. “He’s more humble than apple pie,” she said.

Mr Cameron said he cannot ever envisage slowing down.

“It’s like riding a bike – if I stop peddling, I fall off the bike. If I don’t work, I get sick. It’s that simple really. I got diagnosed with ME (chronic fatigue syndrome) in 1978 and an ADHD type personality. I bet both of those mentally. I don’t let either of them get the better of me - I refuse to give in.”

Scientist, inventor, social entrepreneur and 2010 New Zealander of the year award winner Sir Ray Avery said Mr Cameron was a hidden icon. He worked closely with Mr Cameron when they organised for a group of youth from the Malcam Trust to travel to Nepal to work with locals helping to renovate a hospital in a bad state of repair.

“He’s an extraordinary guy who has a tenacity to turn around people’s lives on a shoestring budget,” Sir Ray said. “Dollar for dollar he’s turned around more young lives than any other agency in New Zealand. My hope is that he does get acknowledged.”

Dunedin mayor Dave Cull also is full of praise for Mr Cameron.

“I’ve never met anyone so committed to the well-being of our youth in such a visionary yet practical way as Malcolm Cameron. Always positive and future-focused, Malcolm totally backs his implicit faith in young people, no matter how unpromising they might seem at first.”

For further information on the awards click here.

ENDS