Our community carers, workers and volunteers honoured

Melissa Hargraves

More than 300 people donned masks in Lismore on Saturday to celebrate the work of carers, community sector workers and volunteers who make our communities better places to live in.

Northern Rivers Social Development Council (NRSDC) went to great lengths in organising the 2013 Community Sector Masquerade Ball and Awards night.

NRSDC chief executive Tony Davies told Echonetdaily ‘the community service sector does extraordinary work, often dealing with hard issues and quite often we don’t celebrate their achievements.

‘So these awards are critical as these people and organisations make a great contribution to society. They don’t do this work for the money’, Mr Davies said.

Community service is not heralded in popular culture.

Mr Davies said that ‘what we do is just as important for pop culture as the arts and other areas that we celebrate regularly. I see everyone in this room as celebrities who are doing incredible work.’

The ceremony is in its third year, having outgrown its original home at the Byron Cultural and Community Centre.

‘We have had two fantastic years at Byron but we have grown too big now so we hold the event in Lismore,’ Mr Davies said.

He said that the awards are a result of ‘an effort from a range of organisations.’

Local MasterChef celebrity Jules Allen was chosen as Ambassador for the awards nights, having cared for almost 30 foster children.

Having accessed community services herself, Ms Allen understands the value of the sector.

She told the crowd it was important for the community to not distinguish between ‘us and them.’

‘I realised when I got older that there is no them, it is just us,’ she said.

‘Not many people in this room will not have been affected by divorce, mental health, drug addiction, rat bag teenagers, and maybe abortion.

‘And therefore we are them.

‘I get that it is OK to be vulnerable and ask for help, and I am in a room here tonight with people who are willing to help, who may need my help one day. This is the backbone that makes a community.’

Ms Allen is due this week to attend National Adoption Awareness Week celebrations in Sydney.

And the winner is…

There were six categories of awards handed out on the night.

Above and Beyond the Call of Duty award recognises the contribution made by volunteers who work tirelessly to make the world a better place. The award went to Julie Hornibrook from the Lismore and District Women’s Health Centre.

Centre of the Universe award recognises the huge contribution the ‘quite achievers’ behind the scenes make to the community services sector. The award went to two recipients: Cathy Allen from the Lismore and District Women’s Health Centre and Vivienne Watt from NRSDC.

Most Inspirational award recognises inspirational staff who make the community services sector an exciting and inclusive place to work. The award went to Adam Reading from ON-Q Human Resources.

The judges commented on the award recipient’s qualities as ‘absolutely extraordinary courage in the face of individual adversity, who has transformed his struggle to be a shining example to others with a disability’.

In the Line of Fire award recognises frontline workers who make a difference to the lives of people in our community, often in difficult circumstances. The award went to Andy Hamilton from Foundation Care.

Mr Hamilton is a self employed psychologist who works with at-risk young people, mostly young people in foster care. Mr Hamilton works unconventionally in that he goes to the young people and works in the outdoors through therapeutic mentoring.

‘We do activities that they can engage in and enjoy whilst creating a therapeutic relationship,’ Mr Hamilton told Echonetdaily.

Office environments are usually not conducive to working with young people.

‘It is well recognised in the youth sector in clinical services that an office environment is intimidating and makes it hard for them to open up and function,’ Mr Hamilton said.

Community Group or Team is an award for the contribution made to communities by a community-based, not-for-profit group or team in the northern rivers. The award went to the development and innovation team at NRSDC.

Lightbulb Moment – Community Innovation award recognises the provision of innovative solutions to community needs or problems. The award went to two recipients: Cringe the Binge at the Byron Youth Service (BYS), and Family Law Pathways and The Aboriginal Reference Group.

BYS director Di Mahoney asked the audience to keep in mind ‘that five young Australians die each week as a result of alcohol-related harms.

‘That means 30 young people won’t make Christmas this year,’ Ms Mahoney said. ‘This is why we are working hard to reverse binge drinking.’

Mandy Nolan chaired the ceremony and added that ‘families try to hide their stories. People generally only boast on Facebook, it is time we started telling the truth about our real experiences’.

Vicky Findlay works with Interrelate which auspices the Family Law Pathways project. It was set up almost two years ago to address the lack of Aboriginal families who access the Family Law system.

‘The Family Law system is a much better option than waiting for children to be taken by child protection,’ Ms Findlay told Echonetdaily.

‘Any significant person in that child’s life can, through the Family Law system, make a proposal to care for that child,’ she said, ‘so the family maintains control over what is happening to their children.’

Judge Matthew Myers is the first Aboriginal judge of the Family Circuit Court of Australia, he has participated in the project, and is committed to further involvement.

Mereki, also from Interrelate, told Echonetdaily that the project is still in its infancy and will take some time to build trust in the system.

‘Up until Judge Myers was involved there was a lot of fear around the child protection policy,’ Mereki said. ‘For those who have come on board so far, they see this as a brand new pathway.’

Ms Findlay added that, ‘Aboriginal people are incarcerated at really high rates so the court system has been something to be scared of’.

Cultural singer-songwriter and community leader Kerrianne Cox opened up the night followed by Lisa Hunt and her all-star band filling the dance floor for the remainder of the night.

Lismore mayor Jenny Dowell, Cr Gianpiero Battista and minister for north coast and Ballina MP Don Page also attended.