Pat Conroy (Charlton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I had the great honour of attending the 2014 Hunter Volunteer of the Year ceremony. This annual event, run by the Centre for Volunteering, recognises the efforts of volunteers from across New South Wales. It also presents a great opportunity to say thank you to those dedicated individuals who give so much to our community, and I was certainly very pleased to be able to do that.

I would like to mention the following people from the electorate of Charlton who were nominated for efforts throughout the year:    Esther Siebel, of Wangi Wangi, and John Thirkell, of Wallsend, who volunteer with the Starlight Children's Foundation;    Carolyn Brown, of New Lambton Heights, who volunteers with UnitingCare Ageing; Angela Chorusch, of Woodrising, who volunteers with Mums' Cottage; Steve Dewar, of Toronto, who volunteers with Lake Macquarie Landcare;    George Ditz, of West Wallsend, who volunteers with the Sugar Valley Neighbourhood Centre; Adam Heine, of Maryland, who volunteers with St John Ambulance Australia; Margo Humphries, of Cardiff South, who volunteers with Hunter Arts Network; John Cater, of Wallsend, who volunteers with Fort Scratchley Historical Society;    Kevin Stokes, of Toronto, who volunteers with the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens; and Brian Taylor, of Croudace Bay, who volunteers with the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.

Volunteers were recognised across five categories: student, youth, adult, senior and team. The winners from each category will represent the Hunter region at the 2014 New South Wales State Volunteer of the Year Awards Ceremony, to be held on International Volunteer Day, Friday 5 December.

I pay particular tribute to Angela Chorusch, who not only was awarded the Hunter Adult Volunteer of the Year Award but also was the overall winner on the day, receiving the 2014 Volunteer of the Year Award for the Hunter region. Angela works with Mums' Cottage at Holmesville, which offers companionship, guidance, education and assistance to local women and families, often at their most difficult times. They provide access to mentors, disability services, case coordination, legal guidance, financial guidance, health care, educational services, parenting programs and workshops and also a host a range of family events throughout the year. Angela works as a case manager and disability coordinator at Mums' Cottage. She was also instrumental in establishing the centre's program for children aged three to 16 years who are autistic and on the Asperger's spectrum, of which she has some personal family experience.

I was fortunate enough to visit Mums' cottage earlier this year and cannot praise more highly the work of Angela, Sister Helen Anne and the other tremendous volunteers at the centre. Their work inspires me, and it was a great privilege to spend a morning with them, understanding their activities and how they help a great local community. It gives me great pride to have this opportunity to wish Angela and the rest of the Hunter's representatives all the best for the state awards and to pay tribute to each of the nominees, award recipients and the organisations they represent for everything they do to make our area a better place.