Dubbo Regional Council (DRC) is now accepting nominations for this year’s Australia Day Awards, which recognise people who have helped the region grow and thrive in various areas including sports, the arts, and volunteering.
DRC caught up with this year’s Young Citizen of the Year in Dubbo, Molly Croft, to see what she has been up to since receiving her award in January 2020. At the time of receiving her award, Molly was nine months cancer-free, and we’re pleased to share she is now more than 18 months post-treatment cancer-free! Molly has also been chosen as one of 12 young people to sit on the NSW Government’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC). Molly was one of 600 applicants, and is a voice at the table for not only young people, but for the youth of the Dubbo Region.
“I was invited to speak in NSW Parliament last month for National Children’s week – I spoke about how lucky I am to be here and in honour of all those children taken, those fighting and those not yet diagnosed I asked the audience to Google what sarcoma cancer is and help create awareness into this forgotten killer – as I believe awareness creates funding and funding creates research, and it is research that will help find a cure,” said Molly.
“We have our next weekend for YAC in February 2021, where I will be one of the main presenters. I must present on a topic that affects young people in regional NSW – and I am currently contacting young people and their representative bodies on ideas to deliver. If you have any, I would be interested in listening,” she said.
Mayor of the Dubbo Region, Councillor Ben Shields, says the Australia Day awards help recognise people who have been working away, without any need for praise or acknowledgement – much like Molly Croft and all the other award recipients from last year.
“We love celebrating our community members here in the Dubbo region, particularly our residents who make a significant contribution to the advancement of the Dubbo region. That’s why we have a number of categories, aimed at ensuring people are recognised across all areas,” said Councillor Shields.
Award nominations are being accepted in both Dubbo and Wellington for the following categories:
Dubbo:
- Citizen of the Year
- Senior Citizen of the Year
- Young Citizen of the Year
- Sportsperson of the Year
- Young Sportsperson of the Year
- Services to Sports Award
- Cultural Person of the Year
Wellington:
- Citizen of the Year
- Senior Citizen of the Year
- Young Citizen of the Year
- Sportsperson of the Year
- Young Sportsperson of the Year
- Community Event of the Year
- Community Service/Achievement Award
Nominations for the 2021 Awards are open from Monday 7 December, 2020 and close 5pm Monday 11 January, 2021. Nomination forms can be found online, or by picking up a hard copy at one of our Customer Experience Centres in Dubbo or Wellington.
Source: DRC