Nominate your Local Legend on the Surf Coast today

THE Surf Coast Shire’s Local Legends program is returning after a successful first year in 2020-21 putting a spotlight on locals who continue to help the community and the environment thrive.

The Surf Coast Shire has announced that the second round of nominations are now open for this year’s Local Legends program.

Last year’s program saw 17 individuals recognised for their commitment to the local area across all age groups and walks of life.

In 2020 the likes of nine-year-old Winchelsea resident Joshua McDonald was named a local legend for going out twice a week with his neighbour and after-school carer Carol, along with a trolley and garbage bags collecting rubbish wherever they could gather it along Nature Reserve, making an enormous difference in his local area.

“After filling up our rubbish bags we bring them home and sort everything for recycling. It feels great to know the rubbish we’ve collected won’t be going into our rivers and oceans,” Joshua said after being awarded.

Another featured recipient of last year’s Local Legends program were the combined efforts made by the Surf Coast Environmental Action Team, consisting of three Anglesea teenagers Ella Heppeler, Alannah Fitzgerald and Conor Fitzgerald.

The trio, known as SCEAT, drew upon their passion and concern for the environment as a driving force for their actions.

Actions such as participating in the School Strike For Climate, the Fight For The Bight protests, running Cleaner Coast clean-ups, successfully staging fundraising to buy and plant indigenous species along the Surf Coast, and creating a website to promote a range of specific campaigns targeted at reducing, recycling and reusing waste materials.

“The Local Legends awards are not competitive and are open to people of any age,” said councillor Rose Hodge.

“If you feel someone you know has made a contribution, please let us know – you might just make their day as much as they have made yours.”

The nominated person must meet the below criteria to be eligible for the local Legends program: live, work, recreate or go to school in the Surf Coast Shire, make a positive contribution to the community, be willing to be nominated and give their consent, and agree to be featured as a Local Legend in council’s communication channels and potentially local media.

To access the nomination form, head to surfcoast.vic.gov.au/LocalLegends. Nominations close on Sunday, October 21.