Lions volunteers celebrate a roaring 75 years of service

BY BEN CLIFFORD

Lions volunteers across the country and here in the Hunter are celebrating a significant milestone today with the 75th anniversary of the club's formation. 

Since its foundation in Lismore on September 29th 1947, Lions Australia has grown to become the largest service club organisation in the country, attracting more than 25,000 members. 

To celebrate the significant milestone, the organisation set out to plant 75 community gardens across the country. 

With the support of Newcastle Council, Lions Club members of Mayfield and Waratah have embraced the sentiment, planting over 2,000 trees at Bull and Tourle Street Reserve in Mayfield West.

CEO Rob Oerlemans says the brand new gardens serve as a "gift to the community" for all their hard-work and dedication over the past 75 years. 

Moving forward, Oerlemans says Lions volunteers will continue to tackle the issues faced by future generations.

"We know that every community is going to face challenges over the next few decades, we know there's an issue with climate change," he said.

"We know that the conflict going on the world will lead to displaced peoples... [which] creates issues of supply, poverty and hunger. These are all causes that are very close to a lion's heart."

"Not all of these services can be supported and provided by government. It takes every day individuals to get out there and give some of their time to the range of volunteer organisations." 

"Now is the time to rebuild, provide those satisfying and fun opportunities to community-spirited Australians and build resilient communities to face these future challenges."

Over the next 75 years, Lions hopes to continue expanding its services, eventually establishing a club in every single community that requires assistance.

Image credit: City of Newcastle.

Dr David Durrheim named Lake Macquarie Ambassador for 2022

BY DAKOTA TAIT

Dr David Durrheim has been named as the Lake Mac Ambassador at the 2022 Lake Mac Awards.

The physician is being honoured for his work in helping guide the Hunter through the COVID-19 pandemic as a public health controller at Hunter New England Health.

He says, the past few years have shone a spotlight on public health.

"It's quite clear that everybody is now an amateur epidemiologist, and all of us really, as a very large team, have worked together in this public health crisis," Dr Durrheim said.

"The last time this happened was 100 years ago, in the 1918-1919 flu pandemic, and it's been to me, incredibly heartening to see how the community and the health service have all worked together."

Dr Durrheim joined more than 90 nominees, finalists, and thirteen winners at Belmont 16s on Saturday night.

Rhiannan Iffland, a five-time world champion diver, was named Sports Star of the Year, while 11-year-old Xavier Neil was awarded Young Citizen of the Year for his efforts to raise more than $70,000 for local cancer charities. 

Lake Macquarie charity Hope in a Suitcase, which helps supply foster kids with necessities, received an award for Community Group of the Year, while OzHarvest volunteer June Butler was named as Volunteer of the Year.

Dr Durrheim says it's a real honour to be recognised alongside so many other members of the community.

"It's incredibly humbling to actually have attended the event and just to have heard the wonderful and remarkable stories of community volunteers and the work that's being done across Lake Macquarie, by diverse groups of people, particularly during the last two very challenging years," Dr Durrheim said.

"It's an absolute delight to be part of the Lake Macquarie community. It's a beautiful part of the world - arguably, the most beautiful city in Australia, and I think we're very fortunate to live in a community where people do look after each other in a beautiful environment."

Hunter Local Woman of the Year Recipients Announced

BY OLIVIA DILLON

A dedicated Maitland volunteer and a Maryville midwife have been recognised in the region's Local Woman of the Year Awards.

The annual awards recognise the support women give to local communities across NSW. 

The Maitland Local Woman of the Year Award was awarded to Barbara Heckman, for her involvement in a number of community groups, including the East Maitland Girl Guide Support Committee, Maitland Meals on Wheels, the Country Women’s Association Maitland Branch, and Maitland’s Slow Food Markets.

Barbara has also catered for Tocal Field Days and the annual Maitland Show. 

Member for Maitland, Jenny Aitchison congratulated Barbara on the honour, and said volunteers like her are the backbone of the local community. 

"One of the things that really heartened me on Saturday night was that there were actually ten nominees for this position. There were people there who had made an outstanding contribution in their work, people like Barbara who had made an outstanding contribution in their community, and other people who had just made an extraordinary contribution given a situation of disadvantage in their own personal life," she said. 

The Local Woman of the Year Award for Newcastle was given to Oceane Campbell.

Ms Campbell worked as a midwife on the frontline of the pandemic, often supporting COVID-positive women through childbirth. 

She has also been influential in improving maternity care for LGBTQI+ people in the Hunter region, educating and training health care workers on how to ensure safe access for all people.

"I've done some research and worked hard to educate people on why it matters to give the same care, the same dignity and respect, to anybody accessing maternity care, no matter their family structure or background," Ms Campbell said. 

Ms Campbell is also a strong advocate for removing the stigma around mental health, and recently shared her own experience with trauma and mental heath issues, in her double memoire The Silence Between Us.

Ms Campbell said she was shocked and grateful to be recognised in this year's Local Women of the Year Awards, and feels honoured to be an inspiration to other women in the community. 

"We matter, our voices matter, and we're worth listening to," she said. 

Oceane Campbell (holding the award), with friends and family. 

ROADwhyz 10th Anniversary

By MATT JOHNSTON

Local road safety initiative ROADwhyz is celebrating its 10^th anniversary.

Co-creator Michelle Davis is one of the driving forces behind ROADwhyz, and is proud of having reached approximately 40,000 students. “We target teenagers in year 11 and 12, and other at-risk [drivers] – those between the ages of 18 and 25.”

The approach behind ROADwhyz is to make younger drivers think about the consequences of their choices behind the wheel. “We don’t teach them how to drive… we don’t tell them what they should do or how they should do it.

“We just simply say ‘choice and consequence- it’s in your hands. All you have to do is follow the road rules.”

Michelle’s faced her own struggles with the consequences of traffic accidents, having lost her two teenaged sons in 2005. It’s inspired another element of ROADwhyz, where they talk about the consequences for everyone who isn’t in the car when there’s a crash.

“I, as a mother, I try to get them to understand how important their lives are and how much their mother will miss them if they don’t come home.”

ROADwhyz’s message has been impacting on the community, with Michelle being recognised by students four years after workshops. A frequent comment is that the workshops are tough, but they’re important.

Other speakers at the workshops include emergency responders such as paramedics and police officers. While students are often lectured about how to drive on the roads, these first-hand accounts drive home the consequences of drivers’ choices.

Michelle says the workshops are “hard hitting, it’s factual, it’s real. Everybody should watch it.”

Their 10^th anniversary is a chance for ROADwhyz to celebrate the significant mile-stone, and reflect on their hopes to remove the over-representation of younger drivers in crash statistics.

ROADwhyz Co-creator Michelle Davis, roadwhyz.com