Local volunteers recognized at Citizenship Awards

Lane Cove says thank you…

Giving up their own time, year after year, Council’s Citizenship Awards recognise and thank community members for the contribution that they make, often in an unpaid capacity.

This year’s Citizenship Awards were held in the lead up to National Volunteering Week, an annual celebration to acknowledge the generous contribution of our volunteers. There were 24 recipients across 11 categories who were presented with an award at the event held on May 2nd.

“For me, volunteering is a natural part of being involved with the local community and learning more about one’s own interests and hobbies. It is also a means of maintaining what others thought important enough to begin in the first place…it is what makes a neighbourhood a community”.

CHRISTINE BUTTERS 2017 CITIZEN OF THE YEAR

CITIZEN OF THE YEAR Christine Butters

Lane Cove’s 2017 Citizen of the Year, Christine Butters, is a very deserving winner and has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to the community life of Lane Cove.

With a long affiliation with St Andrew’s Uniting Church at Longueville, Christine taught Sunday School there at various stages from the 1960’s through to 2003. She has been the Secretary of the congregation since 1990; has been an Elder of the Church and Church Council member since 2006; and is currently the Church Council Secretary.

She is also one of four Church leaders involved in organising twiceweekly activities for older residents called Time4U, which includes monthly pizza and film nights.

Christine has been involved with Lane Cove Music Club since 1984, when she joined the Committee as Treasurer. In 2001 she became President, a position she still holds 16 years later.

Also in 2001, Christine and her siblings established the Alf and Pearl Pollard Awards in memory of their parents. This Award is for Performance Excellence for Young Musicians aged 11 – 15 years. Christine is currently Deputy President of the Federated Music Clubs of Australia following four years as President from 2012 – 2016.

In addition to a variety of other roles on pre-school committees, school committees, Meals on Wheels and as Director of Cove Craft from 1980 – 1990, Christine has been an active member of the Longueville Tennis Club since 1960, a Committee Member since 1991 and is currently Junior Vice President.

HONORARY LANE COVE CITIZEN Bill Wallace

Bill Wallace has been Lane Cove’s Town Crier for 17 years. Travelling from the Central Coast for each visit, Bill is always willing to lend his voice and charm to our many official events. OUTSTANDING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Spotted Orchid

Spotted Orchid started in Lane Cove just over two years ago. The owner, Rita, is passionate about her floral designs and takes a great interest in individual customers. Her care and attention to detail makes her clients come back time and again and Rita’s love for a chat helps her discover extra details about the purpose and sentiment of customer orders.

HONORARY MUSIC, ART AND CULTURE AWARD

Margaret Vickers

Margaret volunteers with Lane Cove Art Society, helping out in a number of capacities from catering, to promotion, to event set-up. In 2016, she stepped down as the Art Society’s Secretary after more than six years. In the lead-up to its milestone 50th anniversary year, Margaret researched the Art Society’s founding fathers. An artist herself, Margaret is a great believer in fostering younger artists, and teaches printmaking classes.

MUSIC, ART AND CULTURE

Cecilia Egan

Cecilia has been solely responsible for the yarn bombing of Lane Cove. Dedicating large amounts of both time and money to this project, Cee uses her craft to spread positive messages. It is such projects that help embed arts and culture as a vital element of our active and vibrant community.

MUSIC, ART AND CULTURE

Professor Adrian Lee

Adrian is the President of the LaVoce Community Choir and has helped take it from a casual singing group to a successful community choir. Adrian assembes the choir’s repertoire, recruits new members, manages the finances, stages choir performances, maintains the website and organises publicity.

COMMUNITY SERVICE Graeme Davis

Graeme has recently been re-elected as Vice President of the Lane Cove RSL Sub Branch. A retired Lieutenant-Colonel, Graeme is a valuable member of the Lane Cove ANZAC Centenary committee and his knowledge and experience has been put to great use in researching, preparing and delivering ongoing public talks at Lane Cove Library.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Rosemary Lees

In the past decade, Rosemary has been a dedicated volunteer with Lane Cove & North Side Community Services’ Meals on Wheels team. Rosemary also drives local residents who are otherwise homebound. Prior to this, Rosemary was a coordinator for University of the Third Age, which is dedicated to lifelong learning through the sharing of knowledge.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Bruce Plummer

Bruce has been an active member of the Lane Cove RSL Sub Branch since 1999. For many years, Bruce judged the RSL NSW ‘Australia My Country’ schools essay competition and he has been actively involved in the delivery of our ANZAC and Remembrance Day services.

COMMUNITY SERVICE Linen Service volunteers

These volunteers assist frail older people, people with disabilities and their carers to continue living in their own homes by providing them with a fortnightly bed making and linen laundry service. They do their work with joy and bring a smile to isolated residents of Lane Cove.

COMMUNITY SERVICE Beryl Blok

A stalwart member of the Lane Cove Uniting Church, Beryl has lived out her values with a persistent concern for others. A surrogate grandmother to the young families who attend the multi-cultural playgroup at the Meeting House, Beryl has also supported the Walk Around the World program since its inception and the One Million Stars to End Violence project.

LEADERSHIP

Bill McLaughlin

Bill has been a Lane Cove resident for over 40 years and during this time, has been actively involved with the Greenwich Flying Squadron Sailing Club, Northwood Action Group and Lane Cove Historical Society. As a former President of the Historical Society, Bill renewed interest in the original charter of Carisbrook Historic House.

LEADERSHIP Peter Bennett

Peter has been a hard working and wellrespected President of Osborne Park Progress Association since 1993 and a significant force in the renovation of the Osborne Park Tennis Court. Peter was a long-standing Treasurer of Lane Cove Public School P&C; and auditor of Lane Cove Girl Guides and Tambourine Bay Scouts.

LEADERSHIP John Cameron

John’s community service in Lane Cove has spanned around 50 years. A long-serving and highly regarded Rotarian, John was an original organiser of Lane Cove’s Red Shield Appeal. He was also involved in the formation of the Lane Cove Youth Orchestra; helped establish Neighbourhood Watch and until recently, was the Treasurer of the Board of Pottery Gardens Retirement Units.

LEADERSHIP

Anita Ho-Baillie

Anita is a senior research fellow at the University of New South Wales where she leads a team of 15 post-doctorate and post-graduate students researching the development of low cost, ultra thin solar cell technology. Anita’s leadership in the field of sustainable development has seen her achieve a world record in energy conversion efficiency for a solar cell that uses a new class of material called perovskite.

SUSTAINABLE CITIZEN

Alasdair Stuart and Wendy Bishop

In January 2016, Alasdair Stuart and Wendy Bishop initiated the Repair Café in Lane Cove, a fantastic sustainability initiative that involves local residents upcycling and recycling broken goods in the hope of minimising waste in a throw-away society.

Why volunteer?

An action that enhances the lives of so many Australians, research shows that volunteering positively impacts not only the recipients, but the volunteers themselves. According to Volunteering Australia, a strong correlation exists between the wellbeing, happiness, health and longevity of people who are emotionally kind and compassionate in their charitable helping activities. Sustained volunteering is also associated with better mental health.

TO CHECK AN A-Z LIST OF VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES, VISIT www.govolunteer.com.au

SUSTAINABLE ORGANISATION Lane Cove Sustainability Action Group

Established in 2009, this group is made up of a small active group of local volunteers who are the driving force behind a range of sustainability activities within the community such as the Bag Share Scheme; an electronic waste campaign and the Responsible Cafés program.

SUSTAINABLE ORGANISATION FoodFaith

Established in March 2015 by founder Judy Friedlander, FoodFaith aims to build bridges across different faith, cultural and community groups through shared learnings and practices of food and sustainability. FoodFaith organises events to bring the Lane Cove community together and its beautiful community garden at Hughes Park is utilised by many local residents. SPORT Ruth Darling

Ruth is a dedicated and hard-working member of Lane Cove Swim Club. She has held many official positions over the past eight years including Club Secretary, Saturday Morning Club Race Secretary and Chief Recorder. Her attention to detail ensures that the Club’s events run smoothly. SPORT Kenneth Snell

Kenneth is an Australian representative and champion in the ancient Korean martial art of Taekkyon. Amongst Kenneth’s achievements is his recent claim to a silver medal and two bronze medals in the World Taekkyon Championships in South Korea.

WORKPLACE GENERAL

Glennie Atack

Glennie volunteers to count money for the local Red Shield Appeal and is a stalwart of customer service at Westpac Lane Cove branch.

WORKPLACE GENERAL Dr Carl Wong

A general practitioner at Lane Cove’s Emerald Medical Practice, Dr Wong goes above and beyond with regular house calls and visits to residential aged care facilities. Dr Wong assists patients with complex health issues that are difficult to manage and supports many vulnerable and disadvantaged residents in Lane Cove.

WORKPLACE COUNCIL Rajiv Shankar