Dedication, care, commitment and kindness were among the words used to describe Holdfast Bay’s team of volunteers, who were this morning celebrated and thanked at a special breakfast for National Volunteer Week.

It was also a chance to highlight several milestone years of service, ranging from five years to an impressive 25 years.

That award, for a quarter of a century of service, was given to Lynda Yates who was applauded for her “unwavering spirit and generosity” as a regular volunteer with the environment team.

Lynda was also described as having made a “lasting impact” through her dedication to the community.

Certificates for 15 year of volunteering service were awarded to eight locals, who were thanked for “showing up, helping out and making a difference.

Nigel Agar
Freya Cichowski
Tim Dendy
Carolyn Lawes
Colleen Slattery
Sue Wiseman
Gary Zerna
Jennifer Zerna

Another 14 volunteers were thanked for their “decade of dedication to the community” and certificates were awarded to:

Jane Birch
Marilyn Burnett
Sha Egan
Kate Harris
Linda Higgins
Mary Houlahan
Despina Karalis
John Kemp
Audrey Manion
Alyson Menzies
Tianna Muirhead
Clive Taylor
Martese Wright
Lesley Wyndram

Mayor Amanda Wilson, who joined the celebrations, also awarded 5-year service awards to:

Marnie Goodfellow
Linda Heanes
Lisa McGrath
Andrew Scheer
Karen Shand
Alexander Sprinkmeier
Chris Williams
Cynthia Young

Appreciation certificates were awarded to other volunteers for going the extra mile.

They included Sue Gazey, who started a grant writing program to help sports clubs and community groups, and the team of Community Bus drivers and helps who always display a “can-do” attitude. They included Michael Colmagro, Claire Bell, Carolyn Denton, David Harvard, Gay Illingworth, Gary Williams, Brit Spronk and Neville Brown.

Colleen Slattery, who has played an integral role delivering events, arts program, costumes for the Glenelg Christmas Pageant and most recently social support for the ageing in the community, was awarded with an appreciation certificate along with Glenda Parsons, Alyson Menzies and Pamela Cornes who are dedicated home library volunteers.

HoldUp youth committee member Lachlan VanDyk, and Tony Lee, who has recently started volunteering at the Holdfast Bay Community Centre, were both acknowledged with appreciation awards.

Around 300 people regularly volunteer with the City of Holdfast Bay, donating more than 46,000 hours of their time to the community throughout the year.

The theme for this year’s National Volunteer Week is Connecting Communities and the power of volunteering to bring people together.