2008 Regional Winners
2008 Central Coast Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Thanks to Kirsten Hawkes’ tireless campaign for a high school for Kariong and the surrounding community, the project was finally construction in 2010.
For over 20 years Selma Hunt has given valuable assistance as a volunteer in the kitchen of Terrigal and Gosford Senior Citizens Centres.
Central Coast Region Nominees
The Centre would also like to congratulate all of the Central Coast Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
2008 Central West Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Dr Worsley, a retired anesthetist and pain management consultant, gave dselfless support as a volunteer to the Withdrawal Unit, where he provided medical assistance to clients and training to staff.
Bill Archer has a number of volunteering pursuits. He is an asset to the community of Parkes, where kept the important work of Landcare going in the Parkes region.
Read about Dr Worsley and Bill Archer in the Parkes Champion Post, 22 December 2008
Central West Region Nominees
The Centre would also like to congratulate all of the Central West Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
2008 Hunter Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Coral, a grandmother of 17, has volunteered for a number of projects for her community, including her work against drugs and domestic violence, support for land care projects, and more.
Dr Paddy Lightfoot has greatly contributed to the regeneration of wetlands and other vegetation in the Newcastle area for 23 years.
Hunter Region Nominees
The Centre for Volunteering would like to congratulate all of the the Hunter Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
2008 Illawarra Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Kerrie Corish has been a volunteer for a nunmber of organisations, including the City of Shoalhaven Eisteddfod, where she has helped organise music and performing arts performances.
Judyth Brown provided over 1,500 hours of volunteer work in 2007 to give in home and out of home support to families with people with disabilities and aging people.
Year 12 student Krystle Marsh is praised for her "empathy, enthusiasm, energy and willingness to take on the 'big challenges' and see them through to their end" .
Illawarra Region Nominees
The Centre for Volunteering would like to congratulate all of the Illawarra Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
2008 Mid North Coast Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Ian Peden has volunteered for the Coomba community since 1976. Ian has assumed a wide range of duties for the aquatic club, rural fire services and other community organisations.
Seven years ago Frances Robinson founded the Hope Bears Charity, which offers jolly gifts to cancer patients. The charity now has 12 branches throughout New South Wales.
21-year-old Mitchell Dawson was named recipient of the 2008 Surf Lifesaver of the Year Award for his leadership and commitment to providing lifesavings services to his community.
Mid North Coast Region Nominees
The Centre for Volunteering would like to congratulate all of the Mid North Coast Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
2008 Murray Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Jean Dodd has been a tireless helper for the Lions Club and senior citizens at her small town Barooga. Jean sometimes drove Barooga residents nearly 270 kilometers to larger medical centres.
For nearly 50 years Alan Jones has been instrumental in the upkeep and development of the Tocumwal Recreation Reserve, where he has served as President since 1986.
Murray Region Nominees
The Centre would like to congratulate the Murray Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
2008 New England/Northern Inland Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Ian Ridley has provided vital leadership to the NSW State Emergency Service (SES). He has played a critical role in developing local SES’ units and in managing natural disaster in the local communities.
For 45 years Ronald Cleve Jillett has undertaken a wide range of projects for his Emmaville community. Most notably is his involvement in the Emmaville Mining Museum, which he helped build and run.
New England/Northern Inland Region Nominees
Congratulations to all of the New England/Northern Inland Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
2008 Northern Rivers Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Carol Logue’s commitment to the Lower Clarence Netball Association has helped raised thousands of dollars for the association. She also assists children with learning difficulties, helps out young mums with their babies and gave comfort to cancer patients.
Lorna Allen is a long time Uniting Care volunteer. Her tireless fundraising effort has contributed to the raising of over $1.75 million to assist Uniting Care Angeing’s local residential aged care and extra community services.
Northern Rivers Region Nominees
We would also like to congratulate the following volunteers from the Northern Rivers Region for being nominated for the Award.
2008 Orana/Far West Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Former stroke patient Victor Brook of Dubbo is devoted to help stroke patients recover. Victor has provided much appreciated emotional and therapeutic support to stroke patients at Lourdes hospital.
Roy Cameron, 84, is devoted to the collection and recording of local history for the Coolah district. His archives fill fourteen 4-drawer filing cabinets.
Orana/Far West Region Nominees
Congratulations to all of the volunteers from the Orana/Far West Region nominated for the Award.
2008 Riverina Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Temora Shire councillor Rick Firman began volunteering when he was 12 years old. Today, at 34, Rick continues to serve his community with dedication. He holds important positions on 16 local boards and council, and runs his own menswear business in Temora.
88-year-old Mrs Alice has dedicated over a third of her life to her Narrandera community. Alice is an unsung hero in Narrandera, where she has served as a vice president and president for her workload to 12 hours per week.
Riverina Region Nominees
The Centre for Volunteering would like to congratulate the following volunteers from the Riverina Region for being nominated for the Award.
2008 South Coast/Capital Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Carmel Brown, 72, has volunteered tirelessly for the past 30 years with the Murrumburrah-Harden Hospital Auxiliary. She recently received the Medal of the Order of Australia in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours for her service to health.
75-year-old Margaret Williams, president of the Country Women's Association (CWA), pushed through her physical pain to help raise $5,000 for a new aged care facility in Crookwell. She regularly made jams and chutneys for local shows and charities.
Erin Howell, 24, who has overcome a disability herself, has assisted residents with a disability in her Queanbeyan community through her empathetic and caring nature.
South Coast/Capital Region Nominees
The Centre for Volunteering would like to congratulate the following volunteers from the South Coast/Capital Region for being nominated for the Award.
2008 Sydney East Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Patsi Armati, a university professor, uses her teaching skills to help transient homeless young people cope with their daily struggles. Through her work with Youth Off The Streets (YOTS) Patsi has acted as a mentor, friend, mother and ‘teacher’ to these vulnerable individuals.
For the last 15 years Gail Avis runs the Wig Library at the Prince of Wales Hospital. The library lends out wigs to cancer patients to help them feel good about the way they look.
Nicolette Lorraway is a volunteer Managing Editor for the not-for-profit youth media and arts organisation Vibewire.net website. With Nicolette’s help, many young people have achieved their dreams of becoming published authors.
Read about the winners in the Southern Courier's article Volunteers are a ‘dying breed’.
Sydney East Region Nominees
The Centre for Volunteering would like to congratulate all of the Sydney East Region volunteers for being nominated for the Award.
2008 Sydney Greater West and Blue Mountains Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Former registered nurse Robyn Yates founded Blue Mountains Cancer Help (BMCH) organisation in 2005 to provide therapies, support and transport services to very ill cancer patients.
76-year old Assyrian immigrant, Helen Arabzadeh , uses her volunteer work at Karitane to help Assyrian families cope with their hardship and isolation.
Anthony Eden was instrumental in keeping Cumberland Community Radio station stay on air. He has used his technical expertise to bring the station to a new level of sophistication.
Sydney Greater West and Blue Mountains Region Nominees
Congratulations to all of the Sydney Greater West and Blue Mountains Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
2008 Sydney Inner West Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
For ten years Shu Fen Wang has devoted her time as a volunteer for the West Region Chinese Association. She assisted Chinese migrants in Western Sydney become more accustomed to and involved in Australian life.
Dianne Keller volunteers as a facilitator for Interrelate Family Centres’ Rainbows Program , which help children aged 5-17 cope with their grief and loss resulting from family separation/divorce or death.
Josh Rogers has committed approximately 170 hours of volunteering activities since June 2007 for Scouts Australia in Balmain and for World Youth Day 2008.
Sydney Inner West Region Nominees
The Centre for Volunteering would like to congratulate all of the Sydney Inner West Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
2008 Sydney North Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
Carol Langsford of Pymble established the Trish MS Research Foundation in 2000, following the death of her elite athlete daughter Trish Langsford from multiple sclerosis (MS). She has since worked tirelessly to raise fund for research into MS.
Lorraine Clark has spent 18 years volunteered for the Special Olympics program, which provide year round sports training and competition for people with an intellectual disability in a variety of Olympics type sports.
20 year old Peter Hordern has been volunteering with North Shore Christian youth group Destiny Youth. Peter has assisted in creating new games and activities for the young members, and also made short entertainment films for the group.
Sydney North Region Nominees
The Centre for Volunteering would like to congratulate all of the Sydney North Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
2008 Sydney South/Macarthur Volunteer of the Year Award winners
Congratulations to the following winners:
In her 19 years involvement with Uniting Care in Minto Rosemary Gray has improved the life of countless disabled people and motivated support from influential people in her community.
Peter Henry Cobcroft is devoted to help alleviate the hardship of the sick and their families through his work with St Catherine’s (St Cath’s) Church since the 1960’s.
20-year-old Tara Johnson of Sutherland holds down two jobs to fund her Nursing career and volunteered unconditionally to train with Westpac Life Saver Helicopter Service.
Read about Peter and Tara in the St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, 25 November 2008
Sydney South/Macarthur Region Nominees
The Centre for Volunteering would like to congratulate all of the Sydney South/Macarthur Region volunteers nominated for the Award.
