Australia Day Ceremony & Awards

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The City of Burnside celebrated Australia Day in Hazelwood Park with an awards and citizenship ceremony. More than 100 residents from many nations became Australian citizens and the Mayor announced the 2020 Citizen of the Year and Local Volunteer of the Year.

Congratulations to our 2020 Citizen of the Year, Peg Bennett. Kathleen Linda Bennett, better known as ‘Peg’ to most, is one of our longest serving volunteers on the Burnside Civic Centre Community desk. Peg has made lifelong friends as a result of her volunteer work and is treasured and loved by both staff and the public. Peg is very gregarious and takes great delight in stirring up the community service male volunteers every chance she gets, they enjoy her playful banter, good humour and the many exchanges while delivering a much appreciated service to the community. Peg has previously told our staff that she hates computers and refuses to learn; relying on her volunteer buddies on the reception desk to use their skills in this area while Peg utilises her excellent people skills, charisma and good nature to meet and assist members of the community.

Congratulations also to our local volunteer of the year for 2020 Bryan Draper. Bryan has volunteered twice a week at the Burnside Library since 2008. Through this service he prepares new books and DVDs for library life and use by the community; this being only one of many tasks he undertakes in the Library Repair Room. His team members find him inspirational, compassionate and funny and I believe he knows how to make a fantastic cup of coffee! Bryan turned 90 this year and his colleagues have indicated he is showing no signs of slowing down….his contributions to the library, one of the busiest in the state, are of enormous value.

From the CEO: “What these two awards demonstrate is the importance of volunteering in our community; put simply, we could not cope without our volunteers: Not just their labour, but their ideas, innovation, kindness, motivation and camaraderie. Without any doubt, volunteers provide the life force within communities that no leader, no government, and no Council can do single-handedly.”

/Public Release. View in full here.