Australia Day Awards 2013
Last modified on 26 January 2013
Citizen of the Year Award
Malcolm John Lye has been committed to the Northbridge community for more than ten years through the Rotary Club of Northbridge in which he has held the positions of Secretary and Membership Director, as well as the Northbridge Progress Association as Vice President and Secretary.
As the Co-Editor since 2002, he has had an active and influential involvement with the Northbridge Progress Association’s newsletter, The 202, and has worked tirelessly to inform the community on issues that affect the local area.
Malcolm has played a major role in the disability services sector for twenty years with his involvement as a board member of the NSW branch of Technical Aid to the Disabled, also known as TAD NSW.
While he was with TAD NSW, he took on the role of chairman of the TADHouse fundraising project which raised $2.7 million for a facility to hold the services of TAD and operate from.
Nola Braude has been contributing to the community for more than five decades through volunteer work and initiatives in the Chatswood Willoughby area to help the needy.
As a member of the North Shore Temple Emmanuel, she founded the Community Support Group in 1971 with her husband. The group’s main purpose is to make the world a better place by supporting the Jewish and wider community.
Over the years, she has organised annual senior concerts, toy distributions during Christmas, fundraising at fetes, the tending of graves that loved ones aren’t able to tend to, and charity collection for several organisations. She and her husband have been long serving volunteers of the Willoughby StreetFair, manning the information stall rain, hail or shine.
Nola goes about her work quietly, modestly and always with a smile. Her contribution to Willoughby is summed up not only by the countless hours and funds that she has raised, but also by the happy faces of the people she has touched through her tireless efforts to help others.
Her significant contribution to society has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia.
Cultural & Community Building Award
Yan Hong Ma has been an active community leader and volunteer to the Willoughby community services since 2005.
Volunteering her time regularly in teaching Tai-Chi at Council’s multicultural centre, she not only teaches Tai-Chi to the MOSAIC Tai-Chi group but also to non-English speaking groups as well.
Yan has been highly involved in aged care services as well as volunteering at Chatswood library.
Services to Young People Award
Takashi Ogawa has been a teacher at Northbridge Public School since 1994 and is also the coach of the Northbridge Knockout Skipping group.
It is his substantial contribution and active commitment to nurturing the sport of skipping in Australia and working closely with students in the community that is to be commended.
His passion for the sport has given him the chance to accompany teams of Northbridge students to compete nationally and internationally, many of which have received placings and medals.
It is as a mentor to the young people that he is most revered. Takashi has been nurturing senior teenage skippers, encouraging them to take on coaching roles to younger team members. He has taught hundreds of children in the Willoughby City and motivated thousands more throughout Australia.
Young Citizen of the Year Award
Alistair Webster is passionately involved with mentoring children aged 11 to 18 years old in the community to decrease negative behaviour and increase self-esteem and confidence.
He has been a key organiser of Chatswood Oasis, an alternative school program for youth at risk, through Streetwork and the Salvation Army.
Alistair is a youth representative on Council interagency meetings and the local CBD Security Committee to action and implement safety plans for local youths.