The Ararat Rural City Council hosted 36 people from across the community at an event to kickoff National Volunteers Week at the Alexandra Oval Community Centre on Monday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The volunteers were nominated for their work and time spent helping others across all areas including emergency services, sport clubs and community committees.
Ararat Rural City Council acting mayor Gwenda Allgood attended the night along with Cr Jo Armstrong.
Cr Allgood said it was a special night to acknowledge the efforts people put in behind the scenes.
“We had 36 very grateful recipients on Monday night, people get such a buzz out of somebody else recognising the extraordinary contribution to the community,” she said.
“We have got an incredible amount of volunteers in Ararat and if you stood them around in a room, there wouldn’t be much room left.”
While the night was successful, Cr Allgood said she hoped more people would nominate worthy recipients in future years.
“The thing that really disappoints me is I look around town and there is so many people who don’t realise what they are doing,” she said. “I thought there would have been more names put forward but that is up to others to nominate people, we can’t do it as council.
“It is really hard to get the message out there that we rely on people to make those nominations so we can recognise the contributions of these volunteers.”
Ararat SES deputy controller Jan Rilloraza was among the volunteers who received an award and said it was a very special night to be involved in.
“It was a very good night, very eye-opening for me and to see all the other volunteer organisations was great,” he said. “It was a great surprise for me to get the award, I was unprepared for it actually.
“It is a really nice that we can get recognition for what we do.”
Mr Rilloraza said it was a big commitment to be involved in some of these organisations.
“We actually train a lot to work at the highly professional level required,” he said. “We spend a minimum of 120 hours a year training along with the many hours on the administrative side of things.”
Mr Rilloraza has spent almost 10 years volunteering for the service and said it has been a useful life experience.
“There are a lot of life skills involved, you see the community in a different light,” he said. “You see the community perform at its best when its faced with the worst conditions which is what it is all about.
“I would highly recommend volunteering to school leavers and people that have time to spare.”
2018 award recipients
- Frances Kennedy of Ararat and Grampians Visitor Information Centre.
- Tim Shea of Ararat and District Junior Football Association.
- Ron McCormick of Rotary Club of Ararat.
- Peter Beales, Dave Sanders of Central Grampians LLEN L2P Learner Driver Mentor Program.
- Gary Brumby, Kylie Bretherton, Leesa Waterman, Ross Healy, Shel Healy and Vance Bebbington of GC LLEN P2P Learner Driver Program.
- Wayne Gason, Michael Egan and Heather Lockland of Alexandra Hall Committee of Management.
- Gaylene Baker and Dean Pattison of Ararat Neighbourhood House.
- Irene and Ronald Kelly of Ararat Parkrun.
- Mary Schwencke of Friends of Gum San.
- Reg Holmes-Brown of Friends of J Ward.
- Jan Rilloraza of Vic SES Ararat Unit / CFA District 16.
- John Rivett of Elmhurst Mechanics Institute.
- Joy Gunstone of Ararat and District Badminton Association, Alexandra Hall Committee of Management, Friends of Gum San and Ararat Retirement Village.
- Zanetta Hosking, Kate Pitcher, Ewan Clugston, Amanda Skubnik, Kate Gleeson, Kevin Brady, Graham Dempsey, Mick Murray, Les Bright and John Vanderwaal of Moyston Willaura Football Netball Club.
- Kath Leggett of Alexandra Hall Committee and St Vincent de Paul.
- Jim Leeke and Gary Hargreaves of Lake Fyans Committee of Management.