Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week was National Volunteering Week and on Tuesday the ACT Volunteer of the Year Awards were held here in Canberra. These awards, which are organised by Volunteering ACT, are a wonderful chance to recognise the important work that volunteers do in our community. I am pleased to report that the 2012 ACT Volunteer of the Year award went to Dr Mary Webb for her contribution to community service. For over 10 years Dr Webb has provided invaluable volunteer service to those people in the Canberra community with multiple sclerosis. As a person with MS herself, she has brought understanding of chronic conditions and a positive can-do attitude to every service and program with which she has been involved.

The 2012 ACT Volunteer Team of the Year award was awarded to the ACT Adult Migrant English Program home tutor scheme. Up to 150 active volunteer tutors make up the team that works within the home tutor scheme, and often the tutor acts as a conduit between the student and the wider community. With tutor help, participants learn to drive, they learn to look for work, they visit local attractions and perhaps they become volunteers themselves. Other recipients in the individual category included David Hutchison, who was the winner in the arts and heritage category; Dot Mills, highly commended in the care and social support category; Max Kimber, winner in the community care and social support category; Neville Tomkins, highly commended in the community service category; Geraldine O'Connor, highly commended in the education, science and technology category; Hazel Giesecke, winner in the education, science and technology category; David Williams, winner in the health category; Di Evans, highly commended in the sport and recreation category; Gordon McLoughlin, winner in the sport and recreation category; and Frank Brown, winner in the environment category.

The other recipients of the volunteering team awards were the Talking Newspaper service in Cooma and Narooma, a great service that got a highly commended in the community care and social support category; St Vincent de Paul Night Patrol Team, again a great service, winner in the community care and social support category; ANU Volunteers, who got a highly commended in the community service category; Pegasus Hippotherapy Team, who got a highly commended in the health category; the Standford Course Peer Leaders, who were the winners in the health category; and the YMCA of Canberra Runners Club Committee, winner in the sport and recreation category.

I would like to congratulate all the recipients of this year's ACT Volunteer of the Year awards and thank them all for their tireless and selfless contributions to the Canberra community. Thank you very much.