Celebrating our volunteers!

Following the morning tea in Perth on Nov 12th, our annual volunteer recognition events continued in the regional areas through the rest of the month.

Casual morning or afternoon teas were held in Capel (for volunteers based in the south-west), Albany (for the Great Southern) and Peaceful Bay (for those who live or look after the Track in the Frankland district).

They were a great chance to catch up, and give everyone a pat on the back for all their hard work during the year!

For this year’s events, we recognised special Long Serving Volunteers – including the first-ever presentation of the 25 Year Long Service Awards. These were presented to Bruce Manning, Steve Sertis, Gwen Plunkett, Chris Plunkett, and Mike Wood. Recipients of 20-year LSAs were Linda Daniels, John Murphy and Peter Sweetman. Paul Harris, Diane Tinker, and Leigh Wallace were recognised for 15 Years of volunteer contribution. Eleven volunteers received a 10-year LSA, and 23 volunteers were thanked for 5 years of service.

Volunteer rewards were also presented. These are based on the time contributed as a volunteer during the financial year. A total of 87 volunteers received rewards this year, including 11 who contributed more than 500 hours – a significant effort. Many other volunteers make a substantial contribution of their time and effort without meeting the thresholds for rewards – we truly appreciate their work too!

The presentation of some Honorary Life Memberships was a special addition to the volunteer events this year, along with coverage of the 25th Anniversary celebrations. You can read more about both these, on the website or in this month’s edition of ‘Bibbulmun News’ magazine.

Track maintenance; walker, member and volunteer support; guiding; data entry; promotion; and governance is currently supported by 439 wonderful volunteers – many of whom work in multiple roles! We’re blessed to have so many dedicated and passionate individuals involved in our work supporting walkers and keeping the Track as a world-class asset.