OUR SENIORS OF THE YEAR REVEALED
TOWNSVILLE’S male and female Senior of the Year have been awarded in front of cheering crowd of more than 1000 people.
Each year a lunch is held as part of Queensland Seniors Week celebrations, providing an opportunity to recognise 20 nominated seniors who’ve made an outstanding contribution to the Townsville community.
Robyn Moore was a nurse for more than 35 years before she began working with children with a disability but she said volunteering with the Suicide Prevention Network had been her most meaningful work.
“I retired a number of years ago and got involved in all sorts of things, and it’s probably the best years of my life,” she said.
Mrs Moore was named Female Senior of the Year for her efforts raising awareness of suicide prevention in the Townsville community.
“When I do the training for the suicide prevention I feel very satisfied those people will be able to connect with somebody that’s not travelling well and be able to help them in a practical way,” Mrs Moore said.
In front of a sold-out crowd of more than 1000 people, Alfred Smallwood was awarded for his volunteer work to keep indigenous men out of jail and actively engaged in the community. Mr Smallwood was named Male Senior of the Year as the chairman and co-ordinator of Alfred’s Men’s Group.
“I’m just blown away, I did not expect this at all. One of the first things we teach in the group is one big word and that’s respect,” Mr Smallwood said.
“It’s all about honesty, trust and truth; all we want to do is help the young people of tomorrow. We need to teach these young men to take back their lives.”
Mr Smallwood claimed a 98 per cent success rate with the men who attend his weekly support groups and said it worked because of its “authentic delivery”.
“I have the partners come up to me and say ‘what did you do, he’s a different man and my children have their father back’,” he said.
“I hope this award shows the value of the work we do and I can get some help funding it, because I’ve been doing it just on my own.”
The awards were presented by the Townsville City Council Mayor Jenny Hill.