Nominate a Community Citizen of the Year

Every community has local heroes, the people who make the City of Stirling a better place.

If you know of an individual or a group that has made an outstanding contribution to your community, it’s time to nominate them for a Community Citizen of the Year Award.

Held in conjunction with Auspire – The Australia Day Council WA, the annual awards provide local governments around the state an opportunity to acknowledge exceptional residents and groups across four categories:

• Community Citizen of the Year
  A person who has delivered outstanding service to his or her community
   
• Senior Community Citizen of the Year (65 years or over)
  An older person who has delivered outstanding service to his or her community and to be eligible, the person must be over 65 years of age on 26 January 2021
   
• Young Community Citizen of the Year (under 25 years)
  A young person who has delivered outstanding service to his or her community and to be eligible, the person must be under 25 years of age on 26 January 2021
   
• Active Citizenship Award (community group or event)
  The award recognises a group doing outstanding work in the community or an event staged in the community during the past year.

City of Stirling Mayor Mark Irwin said potential nominees could be supporting the community in fields such as education, health, fundraising, volunteering, business, social inclusion, sports or the environment.

“Winners in the last round of awards covered such a diverse range of areas that I’m sure there are thousands of other deserving recipients out there that could be nominated,” Mayor Irwin said.

“Whether it was introducing fee free sports memberships, restoring our natural environment over many years, delivering a popular event for local youth or organising the annual Wembley Downs District Fair – all of last year’s recipients made a tremendous contribution to our community.”

Visit www.stirling.wa.gov.au/citizenshipawards for more information about nominations and selection criteria.

Applications close Saturday 31 October 2020. The awards will be presented to winners on Australia Day 2021.

Previous winners

Community Citizen of the Year - Ken Shorto

Part of the Balga Soccer Club for close to three decades, Ken was instrumental in introducing the ‘Fee Free Football’ program where parents can cover their children’s playing fees by volunteering at the club. It has also proven to be very successful in helping people who have just arrived in the country and are looking for community connections.

Young Community Citizen of the Year (under 25 years) - Naomi Blitz

After rallying local youth to contribute to the City’s Youth Framework, Naomi went on to become a Stirling Youth Advocate and played a leadership role for the successful 2019 Groundswell event.

Senior Community Citizen of the Year (65 years or over) - Rae Kolb
Through the Stirling Natural Environment Coastcare group, Rae devoted many years to planning and implementing annual dune restoration programs along the City’s 6.5km stretch of coastline.

Active Citizen Award (Community Group) - Wembley Downs District Fair
The award recognised the dedicated committee which organised the popular community event for more than five decades which has gone from a modest eight stalls in 1968 to almost 100 stalls today. The committee features members of the 1st Wembley Downs Scout Group, local churches, schools and residents.