Over the past few months, we have heard some heartwarming tales of volunteering during our 2022 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards celebrations. Today the roadshow arrived in Broken Hill for our final regional event to celebrate the amazing volunteers from the Far West.
A special congratulations to our Far West Volunteer of the Year, Lynette Smith, and her St John Ambulance colleague and Adult Volunteer of the Year, Paul Mackinder.
Willyama High School student and Sea Scout volunteer Molly Molloy is the Far West Young Volunteer of the Year – a great achievement at such a young age.
And a special shout out to the team at the Sulphide Street Railway & Historical Museum – a formidable and well-oiled volunteering machine.
2022 NSW Volunteer of the Year Award recipients for the Far West region
Young Volunteer of the Year - Molly Molloy from Broken Hill
Molly gives her time supporting many local events and causes as a member of the 3rd Broken Hill Sea Scouts. This includes volunteering at annual Clean Up Australia Days and national tree planting days. She’s also a volunteer radio host at local community radio station 2DryFM.
Molly helped make 100 joey bags for young, orphaned kangaroos and rallied other volunteers to help paint parts of her local high school.
Adult Volunteer of the Year - Paul Mackinder from Broken Hill
Paul has been a volunteer member of St John Ambulance since 1993, joining the Broken Hill Division in 2011 to provide first aid and health care support to the community during events and major incidents.
He has served as a cadet, a member, an officer second in charge and superintendent. He has contributed over 5,600 hours of documented volunteer service and countless undocumented hours as a leader, mentor, coach and trainer.
Senior Volunteer of the Year - Lynette Smith from Broken Hill
Lynette first joined St John Broken Hill Division in 2017 providing non-clinical support to the Broken Hill Division, and in particular the Cadet Division.
She provides support with fundraising, divisional canteen duties and set-ups at local sport games and other events, and takes on duties that supports her superintendent. In her five years with St John, Lynette has contributed more than 580 documented hours of volunteer service and countless undocumented hours.
Volunteer Team of the Year - Sulphide Street Railway & Historical Museum Volunteers
The 12 volunteers from the Sulphide Street Railway & Historical Museum work like a well-oiled machine to keep the museum open for visitors each and every day of the year – barring Christmas Day.
They maintain and restore the exhibits, provide ground maintenance, cleaning, archiving, administration, banking, rostering and grant writing. The volunteers also act as guides for visitors.
Together they give more than 3,500 hours of their time each year to keep the popular local tourist destination open for visitors.
Regional finalists for the awards are announced at 25 ceremonies throughout NSW and are invited to the Gala State Ceremony for the announcement of the 2022 NSW Volunteer of the Year.
The 2022 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards are supported by principal partners the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and ClubsNSW, which represents the state’s 1,400 not-for-profit clubs.
Principal partners
Award supporters
