North Shore volunteers off to 2019 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards final!

(Above Image) Mayor Pam Palmer – Municipality of Lane Cove, Mayor Gail Giles-Gidney – City of Willoughby Council, Senior and Overall Volunteer of the Year for the North Shore Region Susan Kadar from St Ives who volunteers with The Sydney Jewish Museum Susan winner and Mayor Jennifer Anderson, Ku-ring-gai Council.

Volunteers from across the North Shore were today recognised for their outstanding contribution to volunteering at a special ceremony in Northbridge. 

The NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards is an annual program run by The Centre for Volunteering which has grown to become one of the largest celebrations of volunteering across the country.

Regional finalists for the awards are announced at 21 ceremonies throughout NSW and are invited to the Gala State Ceremony in Sydney for the announcement of the 2019 NSW Volunteer of the Year.

The 2019 NSW Volunteer of the Year Award recipients for the North Shore region are:

The Centre for Volunteering CEO Gemma Rygate said volunteers from across the area had given so much to the local community.

“Your volunteers build connections for people in communities across the region,” Ms Rygate said.

“They help to build such positive experiences and links to services across health, education and community sectors. Our ceremony today recognises their work and allows us to say thank you.”

2019 Young Volunteer of the Year for the region, Jessica Harrison, volunteers once a week at the Asylum Seekers Centre.  Jessica runs the welcome tours for asylum seekers arriving to Australia. She provides referrals to new clients for other services that help provide assistance with essentials such as clothing, furniture and paying for services like electricity bills.

Barbara Ward was awarded the 2019 North Shore Adult Volunteer of the Year for her lifelong volunteering work for a long list of organisations helping to fight disease and promote healthy living. She led the fundraising activities for the Sydney Adventist Hospital San Foundation, is the volunteer President of the NSW Lupus Association and Nutrition Australia (NSW) and has raised funds to help provide meals and exercise programs for older people from disadvantaged backgrounds via SHARE Inc.

The North Shore 2019 Volunteer of the Year is Susan Kadar whose volunteering work at the Sydney Jewish Museum helped to translate and uncover the stories contained in the diary of Dr Ando Kampfner. The complex Hungarian language used in the diary had not been translated until Susan dedicated the many volunteer hours to revealing its rare and hidden stories of post-World War Europe.

It is now considered a unique historical document throughout the world.

The 30 volunteers from the Listening Ear Helpline were awarded the North Shore 2019 Volunteer team of the Year for their tireless work proving social contact and support to people who are socially isolated and suffering family or personal stress. The volunteers take more than 3,400 calls each year from as many as 2,000 people.

The 2019 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards are supported by principal partners the Department of Family and Community Services NSW and ClubsNSW, representing the state’s 1,400 not-for-profit clubs.

Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Gareth Ward said volunteers made an enormous contribution to local communities.

“A vibrant volunteering sector leads to healthy and strong communities,” Mr Ward said.

“In NSW, volunteers contribute more than $5 billion to the economy each year and their social contribution is even greater. The NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards are a fitting way to say thank you.”

ClubsNSW CEO Anthony Ball said that volunteers were the backbone of licensed clubs across the state, so it was a natural fit for the industry to support such an important program.

“The calibre of our local volunteers never ceases to amaze me, and I’m proud to represent an industry in which around 32,000 volunteers help to make clubs such great places,” Mr Ball said.

“I congratulate all the volunteers who were recognised at today’s ceremony for their dedication and commitment.”