The 2022 recipients of the Stratford District Council Citizens Awards have been announced.
The 2022 recipients of the Stratford District Council Citizens Awards have been announced.
Abbey Sextus will be presented with a Stratford Youth Citizen Award this year.
Eight members of the Stratford community are being recognised for their passion, commitment, and countless hours of volunteer service to a range of clubs, groups, activities and initiatives in the district.
Keisya Gunawan is one of two Stratford Youth Citizen Award recipients this year.
On Tuesday, August 2, four of them will receive a Stratford Citizen Award, with a fifth being presented posthumously,two will receive a Stratford Youth Citizen Award and one will be presented with an Outstanding Citizen Award at a ceremony at the Stratford District Council chambers.
Walter Pease will be presented with a Stratford Citizen Award this year.
Stratford District Mayor Neil Volzke says it's always a pleasure reading through the nominations.
"Year on year we have nominations worthy of acknowledgment, there's no end to good community-minded people in our district. I noticed a common theme of this year's recipients is the amount of time they have each given to the various groups and clubs, and the countless volunteer hours they have each put in."
Bruce Cleland is one of this year's Stratford Citizen Award recipients.
This year, Bruce Cleland and Walter Pease will receive a Stratford Citizen Award, along with Patsy Commerford and Tony (Baz) Gordon who are receiving the first ever joint Citizen Award.
Patsy Commerford and Tony (Baz) Gordon are the first ever joint Stratford Citizen Award recipients
They will be joined by family members of Colin Jones who will receive a Stratford Citizen award on his behalf. Colin died last month just a few days after being told he was one of this year's award recipients.
Family members of Colin Jones will receive a Stratford Citizen Award on his behalf.
Two Stratford Youth Citizen Awards are being presented this year to Stratford High School year 13 students Keisya Gunawan and Abbey Sextus, while Ian Benefield will receive an Outstanding Citizen Award, the fourth award of its type to be presented since the category was introduced in 2018.
Ian Benefield, who received a Stratford Citizen Award in 2005, is being further honoured with an Outstanding Citizen Award this year.
Neil says he is looking forward to the awards evening.
"The awards presentation evening is a very special occasion for the recipients and their families/supporters. It's really gratifying to be able to shine the spotlight on each of them and acknowledge their achievements. They have really earned this recognition."
The Stratford Press will run profiles of each of this year's recipients over the next few of weeks, followed by photos from the awards ceremony itself.
