Western Bay Community Awards finalists announced

The awards will be held at Holy Trinity Tauranga on Thursday, March 20.

The Western Bay of Plenty is set to honour its remarkable community champions with the announcement of finalists for the 2025 Western Bay Community Awards.

These annual awards celebrate inspiring individuals, groups, and organisations making a meaningful impact across the community through seven award categories.

The awards recognise excellence in areas such as community events, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, collaboration, volunteering and youth community involvement, as well as being at the heart of their community.

Mel Tata, Paul Geoghegan and Vicki Semple formed the 2025 judging panel and were tasked with selecting finalists from a field of more than 80 outstanding nominations.

Geoghegan said he was again blown away by this year’s nominations. He said he always found it inspiring to see the sheer dedication and passion that community members and groups brought to their chosen area throughout Tauranga and the Western Bay.

“We had some great discussions around the individuals, groups, organisations, events and projects nominated and it was yet again hard to select just a handful of finalists for each category when so many deserve to be recognised.”

BayTrust chief executive Alastair Rhodes said it was important to acknowledge community contributions.

“We’re honoured to support the Western Bay Community Awards as a platform that shines a spotlight on the efforts of individuals making a real difference in our communities.”

The 2025 awards have seven categories and locals will be able to learn more about each finalist when the online showcase of all finalists goes live in the new year, consisting of a video introducing finalists from all award categories.

During this time, the community can also cast their vote in the People’s Choice Award from the full list of finalists throughout February.

The finalists for the 2025 Western Bay Community Awards are:

Community Event Award

Climate Action Festival

Papamoa Light Up the Waterways – Te Ara ō Wairārkei Matariki 2024

Te Puna Memorial Hall Harvest Market

Toi Kiri World Indigenous Festival

Youth Fest

Sustainable Future Award

Friends of Summerhill

Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust

Outflow Trust

The Wednesday Challenge

Western Bay Wildlife Trust

Diversity and Inclusion Award

Rainbow Youth

Senior Chef – Tauranga

Spectrum Connections Charitable Trust

STEAM-Ed Charitable Trust

Unseen Heroes

Heart of the Community Award

Brave Hearts

Good Neighbour

Ōtūmoetai Social Supermarket

MenzShed Ōmokoroa

The Elms Foundation – Volunteer Team

Youth Spirit Award

Hamish Tanner

Justin Russell

Kennedy Meads

Liam Shanahan

Volunteer of the Year Award

Donna Pferfferle

Laurie Sanders

Lindi Jones

Melvern Wainwright

Phil Waters

Best Collaboration Award

Climate Action Festival

Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project

Matariki Katikati

Te Whānau a Tauwhau and Ōtāwhihi Marae

Super Support

The winners for each category will be announced at the 2025 Western Bay Community Awards ceremony on March 20, where all finalists will be celebrated for their contributions.