Top community efforts receive recognition

BALLARAT has acknowledged some of the city’s most dedicated volunteers and community minded people and groups at the annual citizenship awards.

Held at Civic Hall on Friday evening, awards were given for Citizen of the Year to Nick Locandro, while Young Citizen of the Year honours went to Aleasha Kelly, and Roller Skate Fit Club 3350 picked up the Community Event gong.

Founder of This is Dementia, an organisation dedicated to awareness of early on-set of the disease, Mr Locandro said he wasn’t expecting the nod.

“When you’re very passionate about something sometimes is can feel like you’re not making any headway. This is probably recognition there is some change happening,” he said.

“Not that I really need any more encouragement to keep doing the work that I’m doing, but it makes me that little more passionate to keep working away.”

Following his late father’s diagnosis of young-age dementia at 54, Mr Locandro began a series of fundraising and awareness bike rides and events that culminated in starting This is Dementia.

So far the organisation has raised about $60,000 and run dementia friendly events like movie days at Showbiz Cinemas and lunches at the Western Hotel.

This is Dementia has two main approaches, raising awareness and creating a community that is safer for people, and their careers, who are managing dementia.

“Obviously it’s very special to win the Citizen of the Year award. Hopefully that opens up a few more doors and opportunities to keep creating a dementia friendly community here in Ballarat,” Mr Locandro said.

In the Community Event category Marcia King accepted the award on behalf of Roller Skate Fit Club 3350.

Based out of Doug Dean Reserve in Delacombe, the group grew out of the city’s roller derby scene and offers an alternative and safe community focused on fitness and social activity.

“We get really good feedback from the skaters and the people who participate, so to have it acknowledged that it is a legitimate group is huge recognition,” Ms King said. “It’s more than just skating around on roller skates, and this, I hope will show that it’s more than that.”

Roller Skate Fit Club has been so successful it’s now catering for school ages skaters and the group has organically grown beyond its original intent.

“We started as a different outlet to provide fitness in regional Australia, but it’s gone beyond that,” Ms King said.

“People come up to me and they say it’s helped with their mental health, and be more social, and helped people who’ve moved here for the first time.”

The Young Citizen award went to social worker and final year university student Aleasha Kelly, who received her the nod for years of work with the LARF, or Life skills, Activities, Relationships, Friendship & Fun, program.

A Co-coordinator, the program provides mentoring opportunities for kids experiencing a range of challenges.

As Ballarat having one of the highest rates of volunteering and community service in the country, mayor Cr Ben Taylor said the awards were an important part of acknowledging that contribution.

“It’s really important that every year we recognise that great community work that’s being done,” he said. “All the people who were nominated tonight do amazing work in the community in bringing people together and raising awareness.”

Yet for every nominee on the night, Cr Taylor said there were many more that stood behind them.

“There’s hundreds upon thousands of people involved in this community that do things day-to-day without any recognition because they want to it for the community,” he said.

“The community doesn’t operate without volunteers.”