Inspirational Woman (Latest Mayor’s Column 21 July 2018)

Congratulations to Aunty Jenny Skinner on winning the prestigious Grace Roberts Community Development Award.

Aunty Jenny is a dedicated and inspirational community ambassador and role-model in the Aboriginal community in Coffs Harbour. She supports numerous community organisations and volunteers her time to better her community and provide support in any way she can.

From driving buses to transport community members to events, to attending conferences and meetings to promote her community and share her knowledge of Gumbaynggirr culture, Aunty Jenny is a much respected and inspirational woman in the Aboriginal community who is a mentor and role-model who has positively touched the lives of many.

The annual Awards recognise the contribution that local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make to the community. They are named in memory of Grace Roberts, a local Aboriginal woman who had a positive and lasting impact on the Coffs Harbour community in helping to improve the quality of life for local Aboriginal people.

Also congratulations to the other award winners – Deakin Walker for the Academic Achievement Award, Tanisha Wallace who won the Sports Achievement Award and Corey Warn who took home the Youth of the Year Award.

It’s great to see successive generations following in Grace Roberts’ footsteps. Well done to winners – and to all the nominees – for their efforts and achievements in the Coffs Harbour community.

Arts Bringing People Together

I was very excited to see the projects that got a guernsey in this year’s arts and cultural grants round from Council.

They included a Saltwater Freshwater Festival youth flash mob, a short film about growing up in a coastal town, artist exchanges between local galleries, a science festival, a ‘play’ group for former refugee youngsters and a string camp for aspiring musicians.

There were ten local projects altogether and they are sharing in $37,400 worth of grants.

Council annually offers grants from $2,000 to $5,000 through its Arts and Cultural Development Grants programme to help support the implementation of the Creative Coffs – Cultural Strategic Plan 2017-2022.

Each year we see new and exciting events, activities and learning projects for and by the Coffs Coast community.

This year is no exception and I love the way the successful groups are embracing our very, very diverse community and celebrating our differences and similarities so positively.