Raise a cheer for the Eastern Suburbs volunteers

Outstanding volunteers from Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs honoured at NSW Volunteer of the Year Award ceremony

Volunteers from across Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs were today recognised for their outstanding contribution to volunteering in NSW, at a special ceremony in Randwick.

The NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards is an annual event run by The Centre for Volunteering and is the biggest celebration of volunteering across the country.

The NSW Volunteer of the Year Award recipients for the Sydney City and Eastern Suburbs region are:

The Centre for Volunteering CEO Gemma Rygate said volunteers from across the region had made an enormous contribution to the local community.

“Volunteers from across the area give their time helping in schools, hospitals, for sporting clubs, the environment, and with so many community based organisations,” Ms Rygate said.

“They all give so much without asking for anything in return.

“It was so pleasing to recognise their outstanding efforts and also celebrate the special contribution of the volunteers chosen to represent the region in November at the State Final of the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards.”

The Young Volunteer of the Year for the Sydney region is Chau Au who has established three Code Clubs based at public libraries across Sydney to teach young people important digital literacy and coding skills such as building websites, animations and games. Chau is studying education and library studies and is particularly proud that about 80 percent of young members of one club are female.

NSW 2018 Volunteer of the Year for the Sydney East region Tammy Callaghan with the Federal Member for Kingsford Smith Matt Thistlethwaite and the State Member for Coogee Bruce Notley Smith.

The NSW Adult Volunteer of the Year and overall NSW Volunteer of the Year for the Sydney region is Tammy Callaghan who has helped establish and grow the local girls competition in Australian Rules Football to include an amazing 132 participants. Tammy is a mother to three boys, coaches a boys’ team, plays AFL and also volunteers on the regional organising body for the women’s competition.

Beverley Brandon is the Senior NSW Volunteer of the Year for the region for her amazing commitment to providing meals, education and support for people in need via Our Big Kitchen.

The Mum for Mum program run by the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia was awarded the Team Volunteer of the Year for its volunteer work supporting new mothers. The 55 volunteer team members visit mothers in their home in the first year of their babies life and have helped women from 50 separate nationalities throughout Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.

NSW 2018 Volunteer Team of the Year for the Sydney East region Mum for Mum

The 2018 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards are supported by principal partners the Department of Family and Community Services NSW and ClubsNSW, which represents the state’s 1,400 not-for-profit clubs. They are also supported by Etchcraft and Thrifty Car & Truck Rentals.

NSW Minister responsible for Volunteering, the Hon. Ray Williams, said the state’s 2.1 million volunteers contributed more than $5 billion to the NSW economy every year.

“Nominating local volunteers for an award or a certificate is a special way of saying thank you,” Mr Williams said.

“The fact that so many nominations were received this year is recognition of the amazing effort of volunteers across NSW who help build stronger communities.”

ClubsNSW CEO Anthony Ball said that volunteers were the backbone of registered clubs across NSW.

“ClubsNSW is very proud to support the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards and every one of the amazing volunteers recognised today,” Mr Ball said.

“Clubs across NSW rely on 32,000 volunteers to help make their venues a vibrant and enjoyable experience,” Mr Ball said.

“They also contribute so much more to our wider community, adding billions of dollars to the NSW economy each year.”

You can see the event photos here

The Centre for Volunteering would like to thank the generosity of the following organisations for their ongoing support of the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards:

Background

The NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards is an annual program launched in 2007 by The Centre for Volunteering to recognise the outstanding efforts of the 2 million+ volunteers in NSW, and to promote the importance of volunteering to the community.? The Awards are a celebration of the amazing commitment and achievements volunteers make in our communities and a chance for us to come together to give our thanks. The Awards acknowledge the efforts of thousands of volunteers, volunteer managers, volunteer involving organisations and corporates in bringing about social change through volunteering.