"I thought it was a scam at first. I wasn’t going to answer the email.
"It is humbling and really lovely to be recognised but it is the connection with people that really makes the community work. You’re never doing anything alone," she said.
Ms Angland has been a volunteer member of the South Canterbury Drama League for 45 years and has been involved onstage, backstage, in directing plays, and with management.
A past chairwoman of the repertory section, she was president of the league from 2002 to 2005, overseeing major property refurbishments.
She has written and directed several plays for the league, most recently Captain Cain in 2023, which received local and national acclaim.
She is a life member of both repertory and the league.
In 2011, she received a community service award from Arthritis New Zealand for 15 years of voluntary service organising door-to-door and street collections.
She is a life member of Hospice South Canterbury.
A volunteer since 1996, her roles have included video producer, home carer, retail assistant and biographer where she recorded patients’ life stories.
She was a co-organiser of the South Canterbury Wine and Food Festival, a major hospice fundraiser.
She wrote Loving Care, the history of the first 25 years of Hospice South Canterbury.
Ms Angland is the author of the published histories of Presbyterian Support South Canterbury, Tennis South Canterbury and the Community Trust of Mid and South Canterbury.
"It’s a real human need to feel useful and at my age, you’ve had a few years to be useful," she said.
Ms Angland was thankful for the support and encouragement of her husband and family.
"I don’t feel it’s just me that has been recognised; it’s everyone else I’ve worked with as well."
Carol Angland
South Canterbury (now Wānaka)
KSM
Community and theatre
