Help choose borough’s award winners

THE Borough of Queenscliffe is calling for applicants to help select Community Service Award recipients in the municipality by joining a community reference group.

The council’s Community Service Awards are presented annually during National Volunteers’ Week in May, and recognise individuals and groups for their outstanding contribution to the local community.

Awards include Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Community Event of the Year, Community Group of the Year, and Community Environment Project of the Year.

Anyone who lives, works or volunteers in the Borough of Queenscliffe can be nominated by any member of the community.

To ensure local residents can help determine award winners, the Borough of Queenscliffe has established a reference group – which judges the nominations against set criteria and makes a recommendation to the council on who should be awarded each title – and is calling for residents to apply to be part of it.

Borough mayor Ross Ebbels said the group would be an opportunity for passionate locals to play a role in recognising the contribution of some of the municipality’s most outstanding citizens.

“By joining the Community Service Awards Community Reference Group, you’ll help us choose the deserving winner for each award from a field of nominees,” Cr Ebbels said.

Appointments are confidential, with appointees serving on the reference group for a two-year term, meeting once a year for two hours.

According to the group’s terms of reference, the Community Service Awards Community Reference Group will consist of at least one councillor, three community members, and council officers as required.

As much as is possible, the council will seek to ensure that members of its Community Reference Group are representative of the community, and will review the age and genders of applicants with a view to ensuring it is appropriately representative.

Expressions of interest can be submitted on the council’s website.

Applications close on February 18, 2022.