{"id":75928,"date":"2021-04-28T17:35:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T07:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=75928"},"modified":"2021-04-28T17:35:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T07:35:39","slug":"ambassador-sees-opportunity-everywhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/living\/ambassador-sees-opportunity-everywhere\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambassador sees opportunity everywhere"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>We Are Ballarat celebrates all of us &#8211; the people who define our city &#8211; and aims to empower us to work towards the strengthening of Ballarat\u2019s social fabric.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-75930\" src=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/04\/COB_WAB_Logo_Hero_Colour-300x212.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"212\" \/>HISTORY, heritage, and a strong sense of community. These are some of the words We Are Ballarat Ambassador Mr Mark Guirguis associates with Ballarat.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s also another term that has been floating around his mind of late.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the word I would use is opportunity. That is really at the forefront of my mind at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Ballarat-based ear nose throat surgeon, his hometown is currently going through a period of change, making it an especially exciting place to live.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see Ballarat as being in a period of transition,\u201d Mr Guirguis said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI look at what\u2019s happening here at the moment \u2013 we\u2019ve got the infrastructure, we\u2019ve got the beautiful boulevards, we\u2019ve got the beautiful city, the historic streets and the amazing lake \u2013 but there\u2019s a sense of change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was walking along Armstrong Street, that increase in foot traffic, I think those sorts of things make people quite excited that Ballarat is changing and changing for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having spent years undertaking philanthropic work for Ballarat, and as the founder of the Guirguis New Art Prize, Mr Guirguis has high hopes for the future of his city, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d love to see industry grow in Ballarat. I have a vision to see us as a tech centre for Australia. I think that would be amazing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d love to see it as somewhere where people can study, work, grow up, be educated, and retire, make full use of the health services and have a wonderful life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the city undergoes a period of recovery, Mr Guirguis said it was important for residents to get out there and explore all of its offerings and uncover the new and emerging experiences along with family and friends.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo and explore what\u2019s actually out there. I find it amazing the things associated with Ballarat that you may not have even realised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWalk the lake, go down Armstrong Street, wander around the small streets of Soldiers Hill, explore what\u2019s new, look at those places that have changed and see what\u2019s going on locally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe amazing hospitality entrepreneurs that are popping up everywhere, the younger generation that are really forging a new identity for Ballarat, and just exploring all those possibilities \u2013 supporting those people and spreading the word \u2013 these are ways we can bind together and really make Ballarat an enviable place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By rallying the community in a spirit of support and togetherness, and with the vision of recovery firm in our minds, we can propel our city forward. We are Ballarat. And we are all in this together.<\/p>\n<p>Find out more at <a href=\"http:\/\/weareballarat.com.au\"><strong>weareballarat.com.au<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong><em>-SPONSORED CONTENT<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We Are Ballarat celebrates all of us &#8211; the people who define our city &#8211; and aims to empower us to work towards the strengthening of Ballarat\u2019s social fabric. &nbsp; HISTORY, heritage, and a strong sense of community. These are some of the words We Are Ballarat Ambassador Mr Mark Guirguis associates with Ballarat. But [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/living\/ambassador-sees-opportunity-everywhere\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":75929,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-75928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ambassador sees opportunity everywhere - 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\/living\/ambassador-sees-opportunity-everywhere\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ambassador sees opportunity everywhere - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We Are Ballarat celebrates all of us &#8211; the people who define our city &#8211; and aims to empower us to work towards the strengthening of Ballarat\u2019s social fabric. &nbsp; HISTORY, heritage, and a strong sense of community. 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