Volunteering

At its Ordinary Meeting Southern Downs Regional Council recognised Joan Cronin for her significant contribution and dedication to the region as a volunteer at the Allora Regional Sports Museum ... “Joan is a shining example of an ordinary citizen delivering an extraordinary service to the community and I am pleased to recognise her years of selfless service”: Mayor Pennisi.

A helping hand: Former Denmark Citizen of the Year Roger Seeney is a strong believer in helping others and contributes to his community in many ways, including as an organiser of the annual Black Dog Ride, a national charity that raises awareness of depression and suicide prevention. He recently spoke to Serena Kirby about his life and the struggles which have shaped him.

Senior Australian of the Year 2022 and former Narrandera resident Valmai Dempsey of Canberra was one of ten Australians representing Australia at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II last week. Ms Dempsey, a St John Ambulance ACT Volunteer for more than four decades, has been a passionate advocate for first-aid training for learner drivers.

“The Treasure Trove has always aimed to sell beautiful, clean, affordable clothes and household items that are ‘preloved’ rather than tired and obviously second hand. We must have done something right because apart from our lovely regular locals, we have customers visiting from Perth and are now on the op shop tourist holiday trail": Ann Callen, Gingin Community Op Shop secretary.

ac.care. Caring adults living in regional South Australia are helping ensure the state’s most vulnerable children are safe and secure by welcoming them into their homes and families as foster carers. ac.care works with 81 carer households across the Limestone Coast, supporting more than 100 children. This diverse network of carers is dedicated to supporting young people and children in their care, providing love, stability and safety.

The past committee of the former Yanchep Redhawks Junior Cricket Club has recently agreed to distribute its unused funding to support local junior sporting clubs in Yanchep and Eglington ... 'Sport is such a valuable part of any community especially in these times of financial uncertainty that affect many people and sporting clubs': Robert Murphy, former YRJCC president.

The presence of Varroa Mite (a parasite of adult honey bees that weakens and kills colonies and can also transmit viruses) has exacerbated and magnified the regular stresses of beekeeping in Australia ... “Lead by beekeeper volunteers from around Australia, the eradication effort is progressing well; however, if NSW can't contain Varroa Mite, then it will eventually be everywhere in time, including Victoria”: Owner and Managing Director of Warral Maldon, Lindsay Callaway.

The Young at Heart Playgroup, originally designed to connect young children with residents at the Maldon hospital, has been running for over seven years and now has more than 22 families, parents, grandparents and carers attending with their young children ... This year the playgroup has participated in the National Simultaneous Story Time and has started toddler-time sessions with visits from the Castlemaine Library.

Dorrobbee Grass Reserve is a beautiful reserve that surrounds the large concrete water tank on the hill just north of Dunoon. It is a special place of great cultural significance to the traditional custodians, the Widjabul Wia-bal people. The reserve is a traditional Aboriginal camping and travelling route maintained through cultural land-management practices, including cultural burning. The reserve is also a remnant ‘island’ of fire-dependent grassland and one of the last intact grassland ecosystems within the Big Scrub bioregion .

In anticipation of the return to a pre-Covid summer, the Australian Lifeguard Service is recruiting new Lifeguards to bolster its team of beach safety professionals ahead of the raising of the flags that signifies the start of the season, taking place in the September school holidays. It presents a fantastic opportunity to engage yourself in a rewarding role which will keep you fit and on the beach across the summer.

The Tarrangower Australia Day Committee has made the difficult decision to disband. In recent years, committee numbers have been dwindling, and efforts to recruit new members have had little or no results. The three remaining members have made the difficult decision to cease operations.

The report on the floods is in and it is a riveting and sobering read. With 21 findings and 37 recommendations, the NSW Legislative Council Select Committee has tackled the government’s response to the floods, the operations of the SES and the difficulties of getting grants from Resilience NSW.

Samuel Davis. A desperate 67-hour search to find an elderly Aurukun man has ended with a family member discovering him “stuck in the mud” in a nearby swamp ... Burt Wikmunea's disappearance prompted around 40 volunteers and SES members to assist police in finding Mr Wikmunea across four days.

A woman who helped save the life of her friend on a remote Cape York cattle station has been crowned the 2022 RFDS Local Hero Award winner for the Cairns region ... With Coen more than an hour’s drive away, and the nearest hospital at Weipa unable to be accessed due to flooding, Emma used the defibrillator machine on the property and performed CPR for an hour to help Peter bring his wife back to life.

Excellent reviews from tourists have resulted in a big tick for the Mount Isa Underground Hospital and Museum. The city’s top tourist attraction was picked for the Best of Queensland Experiences Program, which should lead to greater exposure through Tourism and Events Queensland.

Illegally cleared native vegetation is being restored along the Wilson Inlet foreshore. Locally-sourced plant material from the inlet foreshore is being used to restore the natural vegetation along the water’s edge which has been cleared without permits. The Shire of Denmark is collaborating with Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee in the project.

Narrandera Landcare had a rewarding National Tree Day planting morning at The Wetlands on Sunday when more than 40 volunteers helped plant the seedlings the group's volunteers started propagating late last year ... Over 600 seedlings were planted on the morning, adding to the 150 local schools had already planted this year.

Emma Pritchard. Aussie Hay Runners have partnered with Feed for Friends and the Rotary Club of Melton to transport 1000 bales of hay and several pallets of hard feed from rural Victoria to the Clarence Valley in support of local producers and small hobby farmers who have been adversely affected by the unprecedented flooding which devastated communities throughout Northern NSW earlier this year. A convoy of 31 trucks arrived in Grafton over the weekend.

Maldon residents Lauren Adele Stevens and her Dad, Ian Stevens, have once again headed off to Cambodia to continue working at Lauren’s Phnom Penh office with her local Cambodian team ... Alongside our WASH projects, Community Generation will commence a new project delivery of up-skilling and training local Khmer peoples with life-changing plumbing and maintenance skills delivered by fully qualified Australian plumbers,” Lauren said.

Serena Kirby. Festival of Voice organisers report good attendance for the start of this year’s extended program, traditionally held over three days of the WA Week weekend. This year’s program is spread across the month’s four weekends.

Kristin Nicholson. 50 years is an impressive length of time to be associated with one organisation. That's how long Barham’s Phil Mertz has been involved with the St Vincent de Paul Society, better known as Vinnies. Last month, Phil was recognised for his years of service. Phil began his association with Vinnies in the 1960s when he lived and worked at Hay.