National Bank's Volunteer Awards 2002
2 December 2002 at 12:12 pm
Australian’s are also honouring their volunteer organisations this month! The National Australia Bank has announced the winners of their annual CommunityLink Volunteer Awards program showing the extraordinary breadth of volunteer activities in this country.
The National’s CommunityLink Volunteer Awards are open to any Not for Profit organisation that relies mostly on the support of volunteers and conducts a volunteer-based program or project to serve its local community.
Designed to raise community awareness of the value of volunteers, the Awards also aim to encourage others to become involved in community work.
Founded by the National in 1997, over 450 community groups have received an award in the past six years. This year over 2,200 nominations across six categories from every state and territory of Australia were received.
The categories for the awards are:
Art & Culture
Community Service
Emergency & Safety
Environment, Conservation & Heritage
Health
Sport & Recreation
The National’s Executive General Manager of Financial Services, Ian MacDonald congratulated the winners on their hard work and dedication to helping the community.
MacDonald says Australia’s volunteer groups and their members deserve to be recognised for the crucial and invaluable services they provide.
He adds that as these volunteers are usually busily working away in the background, it’s nice to be able to say to them ‘we know you are there and we appreciate what you are doing for our community’.
This year awards totalling $375,000 are being made with each of the 42 Award winners receiving a prize of $7,500 and 60 highly commended winners receiving $1,000 each.
The National CommunityLink Volunteer Awards are judged independently by a panel of recognised experts from various community organisations in each of the six categories.
The programs and projects nominated are judged on the following criteria:
community impact and benefit
volunteer management practices
effective involvement of volunteers
the ability of other communities and organisations to benefit from its practices
originality and creativity.
Volunteering Australia, the peak body for the volunteer sector throughout Australia has been the National’s partner in the CommunityLink Volunteer Awards program since its inception.
Sha Cordingley, the CEO of Volunteering Australia says the National Australia Bank and Volunteering Australia hope the Awards encourage existing volunteers to continue and expand their outstanding work, while encouraging even more Australians to be involved in the community.
Category State Organisation Name
Art & Culture VIC Ballarat Begonia Festival
NSW Friends of the Hawkesbury Art Collection
Qld Goomeri Pumpkin Festival
SA South Australian Folk Federation
WA Country Music Club of Boyup Brook
TAS Mt Wellington Festival Committee
ACT/NT Simply Crafts
Community Service VIC Mercy Care
NSW Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Lifeline & Community Aid
QLD Sunshine Coast Street Angels
SA Holiday Explorers
WA Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation
TAS St Vincent De Paul Society – Hobart Region
ACT/NT Crisis Line NT
Emergency & Safety VIC Broadford Fire Brigade
NSW Woronora Bush Fire Brigade
Qld Esk Shire SES Unit
SA Grange Surf Life Saving Club
WA Denmark Surf Life Saving Club
TAS SES Southern Region Search & Rescue Team
ACT/NT Australian Federal Police – Volunteers in Policing
Environment, Conservation & Heritage
VIC Portland Cable Trams
NSW Robertson Environment Protection Society
Qld Kingfisher Recycling Centre
SA Friends of Arid Recovery
WA Kojonup Tourist Association
TAS Female Factory Historic Site
ACT/NT CSIRO Entomology
Health VIC The Bionic Ear Institute
NSW The Snowy Ride
Qld Parent Aid Unit – Royal Children’s Hospital
SA Horizon Social Club
WA WA Aids Council – Living Well Program
TAS Menzies Centre for Population Health Research
ACT/NT Mental Illnes Education ACT
Sport & Recreation VIC Wangaratta Rovers Football & Netball Club
NSW Hunter Sports Centre
Qld Mundubbera Extreme Sports Society
SA Onkaparinga Community Playground
WA Friends of the Bibbulmun Track
TAS Kempton/Bagdad Yismac Youth Club
ACT/NT Pegasus Riding for the Disabled
If you would like a list of all the winners and those who were Highly Commended with links to their project details please send us an e-mail to probono@probonoaustralia.com.au.
