News Alert |

Three of Ballarat’s outstanding older residents have been recognised in the City of Ballarat’s 2018 Senior of the Year Awards at Town Hall today. 

This is the 10th year the City of Ballarat has presented the Awards, which recognise local residents, aged 60 years and older, who have made a significant contribution to the Ballarat community. 

This year’s Award winners are:  

Robyn volunteers with a range of groups to help those less fortunate. For more than 18 years, Robyn has volunteered with the Office of the Public Advocate as a regional convenor and community visitor of the Grampians Region Mental Health Stream.  

As part of her community visitor role, Robyn visits mental health facilities – providing a voice to patients and residents. Robyn ensures the rights of patients and residents are being upheld, that they are safe from harm and exploitation and that they are being treated with dignity and respect. As a tireless advocate, Robyn and her team undertook 98 visits to mental health facilities in the last financial year to safeguard the rights and welfare of some of our most vulnerable people.  

As an elder, board member and volunteer with the Ballarat Seventh-day Adventist Church, Robyn has been involved in many of its programs, including its weekly food pantry program, which helps the unfortunate and the hungry, through to a weekly music program for local mums with young children.  

Notably, Robyn and her late husband raised more than 40 children as foster parents –all of these children remain in touch with her today.

Marie Wilson has spent most of her life volunteering. From the age of 14, she helped the Dean-Newlyn Young Farmers Club to organise functions, including the local ball. Marie has also volunteered with the Country Women’s Association, her children’s kindergarten and primary schools, she has been a Girl Guide leader and made costumes and floats for the Ballarat Begonia Festival.  

For the past 30 years, Marie has been a member of the Ballarat Jazz Club, where she has served as president, secretary, newsletter editor, bookings coordinator, and in 2016 received a Life membership for her work and dedication to the club.  

Marie is a member of the Lyric Theatre Company, where she has volunteered her time to make costumes for all of the productions in the past 18 years. Marie also volunteers with the Old Colonists Club, where she assists with catering and decorating tables for functions, and she recently began providing tutorage in patchwork sewing with the Ballarat Branch of U3A.  

John has been a member of the Ballan Angler’s Club since 2003 and has held the position as the club’s delegate to the Ballarat and District Angling Association for the past three years.  

Passionate about educating the next generation of recreational anglers and the community about safe, sustainable and responsible fishing practices, John has been instrumental to teaching students about how to protect and conserve the aquatic environment. 

As a volunteer with Fishcare Central Highlands, where he has been president since 2009, John has been involved in the educational program, Get Hooked It’s Fun to Fish. The program teaches primary school children, Scouts, Girl Guides, disability and intercultural groups about sustainable fishing and caring for the environment.  

John has travelled thousands of kilometres across Victoria to present this program in the past 11 years.  

John has also been a member of the Ballarat Fish Protection Society and Anglers Club for the past 32 years, where has served as president and vice president.  

John has been a volunteer member of the Country Fire Authority and the Haddon Fire Brigade for more than 37 years, where he has held the positions of firefighter, apparatus officer and forth lieutenant. 

The Senior of the Year Awards also launch the 2018 Seniors Festival for Ballarat. The Victorian festival will be held throughout October with a range of events encouraging Ballarat’s older residents to get social, have fun and try something new.  

The Ballarat program of events is now available at the City of Ballarat’s Phoenix Customer Service Centre and at Ballarat Libraries.