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Eric worked in Wairoa for 3 years. Was a beautiful place but covered in a cloud of oppression and a lack of motivation. There was a lot of cannabis of violence active gang culture and a high unemployment rate. There’s not a lot of opportunity for the locals. There was a reasonably subtle large transient professional presence, teachers bank managers, please officers each doing three-year stints in the town.
Eric joined youth aid in that time working with young people as a fence at the top of the cliff. Whilst working hard as a police officer Eric didn’t enjoy it as the latest culture wasn’t for him. Eric made the comment that Wairoa had 24 offices when he arrived and when he left there were 12 doing the work of 24. It was a busy time.
After Wairoa Eric became a youth education officer in (1997) and Littleton with responsibility for the Banks Peninsula area. He took the drug education program to every school on the peninsular.
Eric left the police in 2011 after a 17 year career and went back to the Salvation Army.
He started working in Christchurch with a lot of men from families Eric had worked with in the police. He worked with gang members who are trying to change your lives around moving away from drugs and alcohol. These gangs included Mongrel Mob and Black Power. Eric helped change some of lives of members of those gangs for the better.
In mid 2016 Eric and his wife were very surprised to receive a call from Eric’s boss saying he was being posted to Auckland to run Epsom Lodge in Margot street in place of former member Doug Newman.
Eric and his wife are joint directors sharing the role something the Salvation Army has accepted as, as Eric put it, the alternative is not good for them.
The Margot Street Lodge provides housing for the homeless, those with addictions, those on probation and those suffering from mental health issues. The lodge receives those individuals and tries to help them in a holistic manner addressing’s physical spiritual health and family needs with a view if possible to returning, or at least helping those using the lodges service to return to the community.
Eric thanked Rotary for a support over the years in the sport that we have given to those officers from the Salvation Army have been members of the club. It has been much appreciated.
Eric's address once again demonstrated the value of vocationals. They give us insights into the activities of members of the club and are as interesting if not more so than external speakers.
Eric was introduced by Bill Mabey and thanked by Linda Coles ( who gave us a plug for 2 books she has just published under a nom-de plume).
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r 2016.
Our speaker on 2 December was Capt Eric Turner of the Salvation Army giving us his vocational.