ASB Good As Gold: Steve Mackereth
12 July 2017 / Published in Your CommunityASB Good as Gold is an ASB initiative recognising, rewarding and helping wonderful people in our community. We ask the public to nominate people, who are making a real difference in their community, have grabbed hold of life against the odds or who really deserve help in a time of hardship. The recipients are featured on TV One’s Seven Sharp programme.
Steve Mackereth is a one man machine, putting everything and everyone before himself. Steve farms the dairy farm that has been in his family for 4 generations. As times have been tough for farmers, he can't afford to hire help so he does everything by himself - milking his heard twice a day, and everything else that dairy farming entails. It's a hard job doing it all solo but what makes it even more impressive is that he does all this whilst battling MS. As his daughter Hannah mentions, “How he manages to do what he does and still come in with a smile blows my mind.”
Steve loves his kids and they are equally devoted to him. He works this hard because he wants to ensure that Hannah and Mark have the best start in life, and supports them financially while they are studying at university. Hannah is doing a post-graduate degree in teaching and Mark is studying to be a surveyor. Steve wants them to be able to do this without coming out the other end of all their hard work with a big student loan.
He loves horse racing and he talks wistfully of a retirement in Cambridge amongst all the race horse studs. Hannah worries about her Dad working so hard, and never taking any time for himself, so she asked for a small holiday for Steve and his wife. We agree, and we’ve given Steve an all-expenses paid holiday for two to the Melbourne Cup, a bit of spending money and enough extra to hire someone to come and take care of the farm while he’s gone. We hope Steve has a great break away from the cows and the milking shed.
Do you know someone who has grabbed hold of life against the odds? Someone with a heart- warming story who’s making a real difference? Someone who’s had a bit of bad luck and needs a boost? You can nominate them for ASB Good As Gold on Seven Sharp's Facebook Page.
