Four treasurers from across the country were recognised at the sixth annual Awards, held in conjunction with social enterprise Our Community, with each receiving a $5,000 donation for their organisation.
This year, nominees were asked to reflect on their learnings and experience in navigating not only the coronavirus pandemic, but also other major disruptions and natural disasters over the past 12 months.
This year’s winners for each of the four categories were:
- Community Service and Advocacy Groups: Brenton Whittenbury - Scouts, Adelaide Foothills District in South Australia. Given Scouts programs were postponed, Mr Whittenbury took the time to support the individuals and groups who regularly hire the Scouts hall to manage their own operations, offering rent holidays and helping create COVID-safe plans.
- Sports, Arts and Culture: Derek Ingles – The Dress Up Place Inc in Victoria. With pandemic restrictions halting community arts activities and events, the costumer hire business was forced to get creative, negotiating with its regular creditors and tapping into alternative income sources – including the making and selling of masks online.
- Education: Anne Ahern – Ramsay State School P&C Association in Queensland. While the P&C’s ordinary routes of funding were not possible, Ms Ahern helped the community to stay well informed with accurate information, shared with a newly created Facebook support group.
- Social Housing and Homelessness: Sumithira Thavapalan – Haymarket Foundation in New South Wales. Ms Thavapalan worked closely with key service providers in homelessness and drug intervention programs to implement necessary changes, including the introduction of a telehealth service to provide those experiencing homelessness with access to a GP.
