From Cake Stalls to Parliament House: Volunteers Soar to New Heights

Volunteers from Granville, Bankstown, Auburn and Baulkham Hills were recognised for their outstanding contribution at the 10th Annual Volunteer of the Year Awards in Parramatta today.

The top award went to Susie Boyd of Merrylands who received both the overall 2016 Sydney Mid-West Volunteer of the Year Award and the Adult of the Year Award for her work with the NSW P&C Federation as well as Merrylands High School P&C Association and South East & South West Sydney Alliance of P&C Associations.

Chief Executive Officer of The Centre for Volunteering, Gemma Rygate, said volunteers improve people’s lives by helping out, keeping people connected and creating a sense of belonging in communities.

“This year The Centre for Volunteering received a record number of nominations: More than 7,500 nominations acknowledging more than 100,000 volunteers – a record number since the awards began 10 years ago,” Ms Rygate said.

“Volunteering is in the DNA of Australians: In NSW more than 2.3 million people volunteer – if volunteering were an industry it would employ more people than any other sector including mining and tourism,” Ms Rygate said.

Ms Rygate said Susie Boyd’s activism extended beyond her own school’s P&C and she has mentored, inspired and trained P&Cs throughout the South Western region to be active partners with their school in order to improve the educational outcomes of students.

“Susie’s infectious humour and dedication to true parent engagement have galvanised a countless number of parents into action regardless of their socioeconomic position, race, religion or political persuasion,” Ms Rygate said.

The Winners of the 2016 Sydney Mid West NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards are:

The Minister responsible for volunteering, John Ajaka, said the awards are an important way of recognising the vibrant contribution individual volunteers make towards strengthening communities across NSW.

“Our incredible volunteers make NSW the beautiful and rewarding place it is to live and work,” Mr Ajaka said.

“Central to volunteer satisfaction is meaningful recognition of the vital and diverse contribution of volunteers.”

Twenty regional Volunteer of the Year Award ceremonies are being held around the state.

All regional winners will be in the running for the overall NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards, which are announced at a gala event in Sydney on Friday, December 2, in the lead up to International Volunteer Day.

The Volunteer of the Year Awards are generously supported by principal partners the NSW Department of Family and Community Services, and ClubsNSW, the industry body which represents the states 1,400 not-for-profit clubs, as well as Bupa Aged Care.

For images from the ceremony visit the photo gallery

BACKGROUND

The NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards is an annual program run by The Centre for Volunteering to recognise the outstanding work of volunteers in every region across NSW. Twenty award ceremonies are held across NSW, from August to October where nominees are recognised with certificates and winners announced.

Regional winners will be entered into the overall State Volunteer of the Year Awards Gala.