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Six volunteer organisations were formally announced as the winners of this year's National Australia Bank CommunityLink Awards at the Park Hyatt in Melbourne, today. The six winners, in the categories of Arts & Culture, Sport & Recreation, Emergency & Safety, Community Service, Health and Environment, Conservation & Heritage, have been awarded $15,000 each in total through the Awards. Mr Frank Cicutto, the National's Managing Director was the host for the Awards ceremony, which also featured cricketer, Steve Waugh, as the guest of honor. Every year, the CommunityLink Awards are open to not-for-profit clubs or organisations that rely mostly on the support of volunteers to conduct a volunteer-based program or project that serves the local community. This year, more than 1500 nominations across six categories from every state and territory of Australia were received, and awards totalling $320,000 have been made to 92 state and national winners and highly commended nominees. The National's CommunityLink Awards, first held in 1997, are designed to recognise and encourage Australia's volunteer organisations which contribute enormously to the welfare of the community. This year's CommunityLink Award winners are as follows: Art & Culture - Arts in Action Inc (South Australia
Arts in Action runs the innovative High Beam Festival, a 10-day arts festival launched in 1998 to celebrate the creativity of people with a disability. The Festival is a showcase for outstanding artistic achievements by people with disabilities and raises public awareness to improve arts opportunities for them. Community Service - Lisa Lodge: Hayeslee Champions Mentoring Program (Victoria)
The Champions Mentoring Program mentors young people who have come to the attention of Child Protective Services or other agencies and who are in serious need of support. The main aim of the program is to offer positive role models with whom young people can develop a long-term, trusting relationship. Health: Mater Children's Hospital (Queensland)
The Mater Children's Hospital Pet Assisted Therapy Scheme aims to reduce the physical and emotional isolation of children in hospital and to lessen their anxiety through the opportunity to interact with visiting animals. The animals, currently all adult dogs which are regularly checked, cleaned and groomed, are privately owned and visit the hospital for an hour each week with their volunteer owner. Emergency & Safety - Bundaberg & Burnett District SES (Queensland)
The Bundaberg & Burnett SES project, "Nature Strikes Back", is a safety initiative which encourages young people to think creatively about the principles of disaster management. In the form of a competition with significant financial prizes, the project has four categories: a hands on exhibit and static display, a poster or web page, an information report and 'Wearable Disasters', which entails designing an imaginative costume. Sport & Recreation - Mary MacKillop Catholic Community of Ballajurah (WA)
Parishioners at the Mary MacKillop Catholic Community of Ballajura decided to fulfil the need of its large population of young people for 'somewhere to go', by developing a drop-in centre in the basement of a newly completed parish building. In consultation with a local youth activities officer, who helped access resources, the drop-in centre was completed in four months. Environment, Conservation & Heritage - Port of Yamba Historical Society (NSW)
The Port of Yamba Historical Society, with just 80 volunteer members, was the driving force behind a celebration in July 1999 of the 200th anniversary of a visit to the Port by explorer Matthew Flinders. A key attraction was a visit by the Norfolk, a replica of Flinders' sloop. The Historical Society enlisted the help of 17 local volunteer, sporting, cultural and community groups to stage the Flinders Bicentenary Celebrations.
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