A chat with 2025 Award Winner, Philippa Miller-Ibos
Philippa Miller-Ibos winner of the 2025 ComplyWith Community Contribution Award, chatted with ILANZ about winning the award, the advantages of volunteering and more.
How did it feel to win the 2025 ComplyWith Community Contribution Award?
I was thrilled to win the 2025 ComplyWith Community Contribution Award, and particularly honoured to be recognised by the legal profession. Having resided in Australia for a lengthy period, the award felt like a ‘coming home’ and acknowledgment that I have successfully established myself back in New Zealand. I also felt extreme gratitude for the breadth of mentors, friends and family who continue to encourage and guide me on this journey. A huge thank you also to ILANZ for their support.
What do you think are the advantages of volunteering?
I think the benefits of volunteering are endless and priceless. Some benefits that spring to mind is the joy of experiencing genuine connection with a diverse range of people and the ability to expand your world view. I enjoy seeing the eagerness to learn from the youth and growth accomplished by up-and-coming legal minds. Volunteering provides you the opportunity to give back to the community; to share expertise, kindness, and support for others. It is an invaluable opportunity to focus on the positive.
As the ComplyWith Community Contribution winner, $5000 in funding will go towards community organisations of your choice. Tell us about the organisations you have chosen and how this funding will benefit them.
I have chosen each of the organisations as they all play an invaluable role to foster connections and wellbeing in the community. Also, each of the organisations has significantly benefited and supported my children and I. The donations are a tiny gesture of gratitude to the positivity and value they gift to our society.
Specifically, I am grateful for the following:
Auckland Waterpolo, for providing the opportunity to play the sport I love by establishing social adult waterpolo games. It is great to be able to get back in the water in an inclusive, fun, and family focused environment.
Big Buddy, for the great work they do to support and guide children with strong male role models. They also connected me to ‘Big Brother Big Sister’, who I make a special mention to - an organisation that facilitates mentoring for young ladies.
Point Chevalier Air Scouts, for sharing and nurturing community spirit and love for nature in our youth
Below are the bios from each of the Community Organisations, as well as their comments stating their gratitude for receiving the donations.
Auckland Water Polo
Auckland Water Polo is the regional sports organisation representing seven vibrant clubs within the Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland region of New Zealand. Our rich history dates to the early 1900s, and we are dedicated to promoting the sport of water polo at all levels. Our mission is to foster a supportive environment where athletes can develop their skills, compete, and thrive.
As a community-focused organisation, we offer refereeing programs, competitions, and holiday camps tailored for players of all ages and abilities. Our long-standing commitment to the growth of water polo has created a nurturing pathway for new and experienced players alike. Whether you're a seasoned athlete or just starting your journey in the sport, Auckland Water Polo provides the resources and support needed to enhance your experience and performance in water polo.This funding is massively appreciated! It will allow us to keep offering the social league we run on Sunday afternoons. In 2023, we noticed that a large group of players in a wide-ranging variety of skill levels and ages (between 19 and 65) were looking for a place to play water polo. What they had in common was that they didn't have the time to commit to training in the club space, so we came up with running a weekly pick-up-style session where everyone mixes and mingles, and we play some social games. This has been steadily growing in terms of numbers, but so too has the pool hire cost. This donation couldn't come at a better time- with this we will be able to keep the cost down to our social leaguers, while we can invest in a few new balls and other equipment, as well as reimburse the young referees who were volunteering their time prior.
Pictured above right: Philippa and Fabian Wanrooji, Community and Competitions Manager at Auckland Water Polo.
Big Buddy
Big Buddy is a charitable trust that supports boys aged between 7-17 across our One-2-One and Group Programmes who don’t have a father figure or strong male role model in their lives. They are matched with Big Buddies – male volunteers from the community who have a good heart and a willingness to share a few hours on a regular basis. Big Buddies go through an extensive screening process to ensure they are, safe, reliable, and committed to showing up for a boy who wants to engage and share time with a man where they wouldn’t normally be able to. Big Buddies show up and do the simple things, such as teaching life skills, exploring different parts of the community, playing sports, working on projects, or simply sharing time and space together.
Our One-2-One programme sees a Big Buddy and a Little Buddy matched for a minimum of 12 months with weekly/regular outings, whilst our recently launched Group Programme sees skilled facilitators, instructor and volunteer mentors supporting 12 youth (14-17) across an 8 week programme that gives youth a chance to connect, share experiences in the outdoors, improve their wellbeing, increase their confidence and sense of belonging.
The $2,000 donation will go toward recruiting, screening and successfully matching a 1:1 Big Buddy volunteer to a Little Buddy, a 6-8 week process that hopefully leads to a powerful, long-term connection.
Pictured above left: Trenton Hudson (Big Buddy), James (Philippa’s son) and Philippa.
Pt Chevalier Air Scouts
Scouts Aotearoa is the world's largest non-formal education institution, with 57 million members worldwide and 13,000 members in New Zealand. We are all about positive youth development with a purpose to empower young people through adventure and challenge to be ready for life. We give young people the opportunity to reach their full potential by creating new adventures, experiencing the outdoors, making new connections, and gaining confidence.
Our Programme focuses on three core areas: personal development, adventure and community engagement. Using these three main areas we aim to foster development in the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental aspects of young people. Scouts Aotearoa provides a safe, nurturing environment where youth are encouraged to be their best selves. Point Chevalier Air Scouts has a youth membership of 65 kids from the ages of 5-17 with 13 Volunteer Leaders and 57 volunteer parents. We fundraise for all our equipment for camping and outdoor adventures.
Thank you again for the amazing donation to the group. We will use it to help pay for kids’ fees for families in financial hardship and Leaders’ kids fees. We will also purchase a Personal Location Beacon for the youth when tramping and First Aid kits.
Pictured right: Pt Chevalier Air Scouts Group.
The ILANZ Awards are presented at our Gala Dinner and
Awards Ceremony, following the ILANZ Conference. This year's
Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony was sponsored by Meredith Connell.