The 2021 Central Goldfields Shire Australia Day Award winners were officially announced at a celebration at Station Domain in Maryborough this morning.
Australia Day Awards were presented in two categories – Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year. Community Award of the Year was not presented due to the COVID-19 restrictions on activities and events.
The recipients are:
Citizen of the Year – Jesse Wright
A founding member of Maryborough's SES unit, Jesse Wright has been a local SES volunteer for the past 42 years. He is also an active contributor to the local Driver Reviver Program.
As an SES volunteer, Jesse has been a first responder to countless road crashes and weather events assisting local families during their time of need.
He has helped our community through flood, fire and other tragic events, often at the expense of his family, dropping everything to respond to call outs for assistance.
A trademark of all SES volunteers is their professionalism and selflessness and Jesse is a perfect example of this.
Young Citizen of the Year – Caitlin Britten
Caitlin Britten is a sportsperson, role model, leader and ambassador of the Central Goldfields community.
In what was a challenging school year, Caitlin led her cohort with positivity and optimism as 2020 student leader.
She is an experienced public speaker having delivered a presentation at the Law Enforcement and Public Health Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2019. At the conference she shared the initiatives MEC were undertaking to reduce the incidents of gendered violence.
She also spoke at the 16 Days of Activism vigil in Maryborough in 2019 and was the 2018 Rural Youth Ambassador with the Country Education Project where she had the opportunity to speak to the Minister for Education on issues facing rural young people.
She is an active volunteer at the Maryborough Football Netball Club and Cal Gully Tennis Club and has volunteered at a range of local community events over recent years.
Caitlin demonstrates courage, kindness, respect, and aspiration in her daily life and is a role model to many.
Central Goldfields Shire Mayor Cr Chris Meddows-Taylor congratulated the recipients.
"Congratulations to our Australia Day Award winners and to all nominees, this is a great achievement," he said.
"Thank you to all of our volunteers across the Central Goldfields Shire who give up their time and energy so generously."
