Mandurah Youth Citizen of the Year Ayesha Patterson with Mayor Rhys Williams.
Camera IconMandurah Youth Citizen of the Year Ayesha Patterson with Mayor Rhys Williams. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Nominate a community hero for the Australia Day Community Citizen of the Year Awards

Jill BurgessMandurah Coastal Times

EVERY community needs its heroes – those people who give and keep on giving.

Its rare that they ever look for the limelight but they are the people who really deserve it.

That is why its important that if you know a community hero, you spend a few minutes nominating them for the Australia Day Community Citizen of the Year Awards.

PerthNow Digital Edition.
Your local paper, whenever you want it.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

The awards are more than just honouring a person who has done great things for the community, being given an award has the potential to boost awareness of a cause and help the community hero reach their goals.

Last year, Ayesha Patterson was the Mandurah Youth Citizen of the Year.

Ayesha was blinded by a spider bite and has since worked hard to raise funds for Guide Dogs WA.

She also started the successful local fundraiser Dining in the Dark.

“For me, the best thing was the award raised awareness of the cause I am passionate about,’’ she said.

“It meant more people knew about Dining in the Dark and ticket sales went up.

A side product of winning the award is that Ayesha now sits on the City’s Access advisory Board.

There are four award categories – Citizen of the Year, Youth Citizen of the Year, Senior Citizen of the Year and Active Citizenship (group or event).

Visit citizenshipawards.com.au/nomina