{"id":70899,"date":"2020-08-29T09:54:01","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T23:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=70899"},"modified":"2020-08-29T09:54:01","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T23:54:01","slug":"mayoral-youth-awards-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/mayoral-youth-awards-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayoral Youth Awards: Shire\u2019s young people are golden!"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORTY young people from across Golden Plains Shire have been honoured though the 2019-2020 Mayoral Youth Awards<\/a> for their contributions towards making the community a better place.<\/p>\n

Hosted in an online video meeting last week, the awards acknowledge efforts as diverse as volunteering with the CFA, designing new skate and BMX facilities, and helping to create a huge work of art.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these kids are doing this year in and year out and what these awards do is appreciate that they are volunteering and helping,\u201d said mayor Cr Owen Sharkey.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of these kids are doing these things without knowing that\u2019s what they are doing, so to stop and acknowledge that is fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Harley Murfitt at Meredith skatepark. Photo: CHIPPY RIVERA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Twelve-year-old Harley Murfitt from Meredith was one of those to receive a gong.<\/p>\n

As a keen freestyle bmxer he was acutely aware that the town\u2019s small skatepark<\/a>, which is made up of second-hand and painted steel ramps on a slippery concrete slab, was not much chop.<\/p>\n

Rather than complain, Harley, along with his friends, including fellow award recipient Max Love, decided to do something about it.<\/p>\n

With the help and backing of his principal at Meredith Primary School, Stephen Trotter, and the local police officer Craig Malthouse, Harley and Max designed an updated skate facility and matching bike trails.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur skatepark now is all wrecked, there\u2019s bits of metal hanging everywhere,\u201d Harley said. \u201cWe\u2019d like a concrete one and a BMX track that will connect to the skatepark so it\u2019s safer for all kids and caters for all kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

A frequent user of the skatepark until COVID restrictions shut off access again, Harley said he hoped his award would shine a light on the proposed upgrades and get some further action on the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it will help,\u201d he said. \u201cNow my name has got out there and Owen Sharkey and other people in the council have seen it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also my friend, Max Love, he got an award and helped too. We\u2019re both trying to get this for the whole community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across in Shelford, 18-year-old Chris Meyer was recognised for his long-time involvement with the town\u2019s CFA brigade.<\/p>\n

Following in the footsteps of him mum and sister he started as a junior when he was 11, and in 2018 joined the ranks as a firefighter.<\/p>\n

\"\"
18-year-old CFA volunteer Chris Meyer helping out at the Shelford Duck Race. Photo: SUPPLIED<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since then the year 12 student at North Geelong Secondary College has been there to help people and the community when things are at the most challenging.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been fun, I\u2019ve enjoyed most of it,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are times when you\u2019re not fighting fires, like dealing with rescues and they\u2019re not that great, but most of the time it\u2019s heaps of fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may not look it when it\u2019s on TV, but you\u2019re giving back to the community. I love doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Mr Meyer clearly volunteers out of a desire to help his town, the Shire and the State. The acknowledgment through the Mayoral Youth Awards program was just a bit of extra inspiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying I need that motivation, because I have enough already, but it definitely does give me more to get out and do more stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some award recipients got their nod for activities off their own back, others, like Teegan Crawford and Samantha Watkins, were included though their work with the Shire\u2019s youth team.<\/p>\n

Teegan, from Sutherlands Creek, from was part of a group of young people who came together to create large piece of art inside the Bannockburn Cultural Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did some sketches and talked about what we wanted to put into the mural, as well as the painting,\u201d she said. \u201cI had the idea to add some native animals. I\u2019m not very artsy, so someone else painted them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really nice. It was fun to talk to new people and listen to everyone\u2019s ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

For 15-year-old Teegan, the experience of working collaboratively with her peers in a youth setting have inspired her to bigger things.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Members of the Bannockburn youth team paint a mural at the town\u2019s cultural centre. Photo: SUPPLIED<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSince I\u2019ve started with the youth group for my future job, I want to be a youth worker,\u201d she said. \u201cI love to volunteer and be a part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in Bannockburn, 18-year-old Ms Watkins is also involved with the Shire\u2019s youth service team and that lead to her involvement in helping to organise last year\u2019s Skate Park Comp.<\/p>\n

While she\u2019s not a skater, bmxer or scooter kid, Ms Watkins said she wanted to take part because that\u2019s the kind of person she is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m that type of person who likes to be involved in helping,\u201d she said. \u201cI was really interested in seeing what it was about and just being there and having some fun. We all came together and organised the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sort of organised the security, the first aid, we all had set roles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mayoral Youth Awards come after significant input by Bannockburn\u2019s young people on the town\u2019s growth plan, and by youth from across the Shire into the municipality\u2019s sport and recreation policy.<\/p>\n

Cr Sharkey said the involvement was key for many reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to have them shape a bit of what the future is because they are the ones who will be appreciating it more than anyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start speaking with teachers and others you find how much it means to the kids to be involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be considered for Mayoral Youth Award nominees had to be between the ages of 12 and 18 at the time of the activity they were being recognised for and have completed it within six months of being nominated.<\/p>\n

They also must live in the Shire, not have been paid for the activity and show a range of positive and safe community impacts.<\/p>\n

All award winners received a $50 Officeworks voucher and a framed certificate.<\/p>\n

The full list of recipients in the 2019-2020 Golden Plains Shire Mayoral Youth Awards: Bannockburn – Samantha Watkins, Novella Rollins, Harry Brown, Molly Weiler, Riley Box-Tweedy, Camdyn Gregory, Jackson Lander-Mitchell, Zac McKiernan, Noah Hutchison, Alisha Nurnaitis and Jayden Stewart. Batesford – William Bradley, Eibhlinn Sharkey and Emily Bradley. Garibaldi – Angus Kasbach. Inverleigh – Bridie Orr and Gus Edwards. Lethbridge – Mason Corbett, Charlie Thompson and Michael Jales. Mannibadar – Matthew Hooper and Joshua Hooper. Maude – Rachel Kaiser. Meredith – Alex Loveday, Ethan Vorkauf, Harley Murfitt, Max Love and Kynan Munday. Piggoreet – Luke Getsom, Rokewood – Nevada Childe. Ross Creek – Darby Mayfield. Russells Bridge – Daisy French. Shelford – Chris Meyer and Zoe King. Smythes Creek – Zac Aberdein. Smythesdale – Talia Jonas. Sutherlands Creek – Teegan Crawford and Hayley Crawford. Teesdale – Andrea Wellington and Louise Van Baar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FORTY young people from across Golden Plains Shire have been honoured though the 2019-2020 Mayoral Youth Awards for their contributions towards making the community a better place. Hosted in an online video meeting last week, the awards acknowledge efforts as diverse as volunteering with the CFA, designing new skate and BMX facilities, and helping to […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":70901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-70899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMayoral Youth Awards: Shire\u2019s young people are golden! - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/mayoral-youth-awards-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mayoral Youth Awards: Shire\u2019s young people are golden! - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FORTY young people from across Golden Plains Shire have been honoured though the 2019-2020 Mayoral Youth Awards for their contributions towards making the community a better place. 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