Celebrating Campaspe community volunteers

Published on 18 May 2020

Volunteers hand

An accomplished young lady playing a pivotal role in representing the opinion of our community’s youth, an outstanding Rochester community leader and a dedicated Rochester community organisation have each received top recognition, earning themselves a well-deserved Campaspe Community Volunteer Award.

Campaspe Shire Council Mayor, Cr Adrian Weston, said timing is bittersweet with COVID-19 preventing a formal presentation event however the announcement links in perfectly with National Volunteer Week (18-24 May).

“National Volunteer Week is the annual celebration, when we as a nation formally recognise the outstanding contribution of volunteers within our community. It’s the ideal time to announce the winners of our annual awards,” Cr Weston said.

The volunteer awards program recognises the valuable contribution of individuals and groups across our shire.

“This is an opportunity to thank not just the winners, but all volunteers who make Campaspe the perfect place to live and visit,” the Mayor added.

Awards were presented in three categories - individual, young person and organisation:

Individual

Winner of the Individual Volunteer Award, Heather Darbyshire is a proficient event organiser in the Rochester community. A very creative and skilled individual, Heather has been an outstanding leader of two major initiatives – the Rochester Wheelie Good Christmas Decorations Project where old bicycle wheels were repurposed into Christmas decorations and proudly displayed throughout the town, and the Rochester Natural Play Space at Rotary Park – a key action from the Economic and Community Economic Plan for Rochester.

Her leadership and dedication to these projects was second to none and benefited the community on many levels.

Heather has also been actively involved in a number of other community projects where she worked collaboratively with colleagues, supporting ideas and creating a very comfortable environment to bring projects to life.

Young Person

A member of Council’s Youth Advisory Group (YAG) since its inception, Mia Oberin is the winner of the Young Person Volunteer Award. Mia has been an active member of the YAG with significant influence and success advocating on behalf of her peers.

Mia has recently met with the UN Youth Representative of Australia to discuss regional and rural issues for young people. Mia is also involved with the Echuca Moama Hockey Club and the Echuca Moama Beacon Foundation.

Organisation

A very important community organisation in the Rochester community, the Rochester Lions Club is the Organisation Volunteer Award winner.

The club regularly provides support to the community and is involved in many community projects including Meals on Wheels, the Australia Day breakfast, Lions Youth of the Year, Santa run, community education on fruit fly prevention and many more.

With 24 members, the Rochester Lions Club is a very important and active community organisation within the township.

Each category winner has been mailed their certificate and cash prize, with the Mayor also capturing the announcement on video, shared through Council’s Facebook page.