Hastings Civic Award 2022 nominations deadline looming

The Tauroa Reserve Care Group received an award last year for their ongoing work enhancing the reserve environment. Photo / Supplied

Nominations for Hastings Civic Honours Awards are wrapping up this month.

Civic Honours Awards recognise those who go above and beyond to give back to the community.

The Hastings District Council encourages people to get their applications in before the deadline closes.

Hastings district councillor Malcolm Dixon said everyone knows someone or a group that goes beyond the call of duty to ensure that our lives and environment are improved and stimulated.

"We would like to recognise them with a civic award and you are encouraged to nominate them," said the council.

The Civic Honours Awards have been given out to a wide range of individual and group volunteers across various activities for over 30 years.

Last year, recipients were a wide range of people, one being a group committing countless hours to maintain and restore the Tauroa Reserve.

Other successful applicants were the Stortford Lodge Rotary Club and individuals volunteering with the Fire Service, giving music lessons and performances, supporting the arts, assisting young people's mums, and compiling valuable legacies of local history.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said it was always an honour to meet and pay tribute to the successful applicants each year.

"With the challenges we have faced the past two years with Covid-19, it makes these efforts all the more significant in giving back to and supporting others in the community," Hazlehurst said.

"We encourage people to make a nomination if they think there is a deserving recipient they know of."

The awards are a way to publicly acknowledge those who work tirelessly in the Hastings community and may not always get the recognition they deserve.

The categories for the awards are arts and culture, health and welfare, sport and recreation, and education and youth.

Get your applications in quick; nominations are open until April 26.

Forms are available at the Hastings, Havelock North and Flaxmere libraries and from the council's Customer Service Centre in Lyndon Rd.

Alternatively, they can be submitted online at www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/our-council/civic-awards.