Awards were presented to five passionate City of Bayswater locals at a citizenship ceremony on 26 January. The Community Citizen of the Year Awards recognise individuals and organisations who have made a notable contribution to their community. For the first time this year, the City presented its own Women in Leadership Award.
City of Bayswater Mayor Dan Bull said the awards were an important way to say thank you.
“So many members of the City of Bayswater community give their time, experience and generosity to others, strengthening our community. It’s truly inspiring.
“Our 2020 award recipients are all well-known and respected members of our community, committed to making the City of Bayswater a better place to live for all of us.
“These are people who tirelessly give of themselves and it is our honour to recognise them for their dedication.”
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2020 Citizen of the Year Awards:
Citizen of the Year – Nestor Jongko
Nestor has been a leader in the Filipino-Australian community in Perth since 1985. He has twice served as President of Filipino Australian Club of Perth (FACPI), and in 2019 was presented with a legacy award by the Filipino Community Council of WA. He is the founder of the Perth Chapter Commander of the Knights of Rizal, and has conducted projects and fundraising activities for various charities in the last 33 years.
His receipt of this award is recognition of his extraordinary, unselfish, and untiring efforts towards the enrichment of the Filipino Migrant community in Perth, demonstrated through his many years as club President, Coordinator, Adviser, Board Trustee member, founding member of several groups paving the way for active, significant and fruitful interaction with Government, business, and multicultural groups.
Senior Citizen of the Year – David Dyke
David is a well-known, respected and outstanding contributor in the community. He is an active member of the Bardon Park Friends Group formed in 2016. Since that time, David has been involved in tackling significant weed growth issues to restore wetlands in the City of Bayswater and has helped to plant thousands of native plants on Community Planting Days. David is also known as the State's most active frog counter devoting copious amounts of time to this environmental cause. Additionally, David is a prostate cancer survivor and has devoted much of his time actively educating the community on prevention whist sharing his own journey.
Youth Citizen of the Year – Isabella Bacigalupo-Rose
Isabella has been a member of the Bayswater Youth Advisory Council (YAC) for over 5 years. During that time she has shown great commitment to her role by being reliable, demonstrating initiative and showing enthusiasm. Isabella has played a key role in assisting with the development of the Platform Youth Action Plan and has given up many hours of her time to consult with other young people to ensure this strategic document is representative of the youth of Bayswater.
Active Citizenship of the Year - Scale Modellers Club of WA
The Scale Modellers Club of WA, based in Noranda, are a unique Club. With over 160 members, the Club are all about preserving and promoting the art of scale modelling, and pride themselves in being a welcoming, all-inclusive Club. One of their core missions is to see young people get off their electronic devices and take up a new hobby to improve hand and coordination skills, such as scale modelling. The Scale Modellers Club of WA has started an outreach program with local schools, it operates as a Men's Shed once per week, prides itself in successfully inter-generationally transferring skills; and encourages people from all ages and abilities to participate. It is an open door Club that to date, has received a significant amount of community praise.
The City’s own Women in Leadership Awards was presented to:
Jessica Machin
Jessica is recognised nationally and internationally as a cultural entrepreneur, advocate and fundraiser for the arts. She has extensive experience in the arts industry, having held senior arts leadership positions across the country, most recently as the Executive Director, West Australian Ballet.
More information about the Community Citizen of the Year awards can be found at https://www.citizenshipawards.com.au/