2025 Community Citizen of the Year
Nominations for 2025 Community Citizen of the Year Awards are now open.
The annual awards provide local governments around the state an opportunity to acknowledge exceptional residents and groups across four categories:
Community Citizen of the Year
A person you believe has delivered outstanding service to their community.
Young Community Citizen of the Year (16 – 30 years)
A young person you believe has delivered outstanding service to their community. To be eligible, individuals must be at least 16 years of age on 26 January 2025, though younger nominees may be considered for exceptional contribution.
Senior Community Citizen of the Year (over 65 years)
An older person you believe has delivered outstanding service to their community. To be eligible, the person must be over 65 years of age on January 26 2025.
Active Citizenship – group or event
A group you believe are delivering outstanding work for our community. This includes events staged during the past year.
Nominations close Thursday 31 October 2024.
For more information and to nominate, visit the Community Citizen of the Year Award website.
Learn about some past Community Citizen of the Year winners below.
Community Citizen of the Year – Catherine Kolomyjec
Being named the City of Joondalup’s Community Citizen of the Year was just the start of a huge 2024 for Catherine Kolomyjec. Equally so, for two programs she has dedicated herself to.
Known for her important work with youth charity Soul Gestures, Catherine is driven by a goal of creating more opportunities for marginalised young people so they can develop leadership skills and become engaged community members.
The Kindness Challenge, which is all about the physical and psychological benefits of being kind, has now been rolled out across 28 schools across Australia, incorporating almost 5,000 students!
“It’s fulfilling to watch young people’s moods shift as they realise that they can improve their mental health, connect in meaningful ways and be happy,” she said.
“The greatest success is when students come running up to me to tell me that they have carried some of the habits into their lives and that they feel better. It impacts adults in the same way too. I am now getting asked to run staff training and speak at conferences on the subject.”
Not to be outdone, The Periscope Crew, a film crew of talented youth, all with some form of disability, have received rave reviews for their documentary about last year’s World Transplant Games. The film has received official selection for Venice Shorts and is one of only two Australian entries for the Paladino d’Oro Sport Film Festival in Italy, the oldest film festival in the world!
“Overall, the City of Joondalup’s recognition drew more attention to the work of our little charity and gave me some recognition for work that, like most community work, is focused squarely at the grassroots level,” she said.
“It was special knowing that people really care about my work, and I would encourage everybody to put in a nomination for the many people in tiny organisations who work tirelessly to make our community and the world a better (and kinder) place.”
If you’d like to nominate someone like Catherine in the category of Community Citizen of the Year, visit Community Citizen of the Year Award website.
Community Citizen of the Year, Senior – Nev Maw
2024 Community (Senior) Citizen of the Year Nev Maw is busier than ever, part of the close-knit Joondalup RSL Veterans Support Centre team that provides advocacy, welfare support and wellbeing to our valued Veterans community.
Their mission? To try and make the world of a Veteran a less confusing place.
Based out of the Heathridge Community Centre, the RUOK call system is there for those in need. Manned by four ladies, all volunteers, this system gives Vets in the northern suburbs an opportunity to open up on issues they might be struggling with.
Nev and the team also provide support to NZ Veterans and compensation advocacy and advice. They visit Vets in their home or in care and hold fortnightly Veteran Coffee and Chat sessions.
You’ll find them manning the centre for their weekly drop-in sessions. More info at veterancentre@joondalupcityrsl.com.au or on Facebook.
If you’d like to nominate someone like Nev in the category of Community Senior Citizen of the Year, visit Community Citizen of the Year Award website.
Community Youth Citizens of the Year – Tom and Harry Linehan
If you can’t find Tom and Harry Linehan, chances are they’ll be in the water.
The City’s 2024 Youth Citizens of the Year train five times a week in the pool. They then throw in four afternoon and Saturday (morning) beach sessions for good measure.
Both boys are very competitive to say the least. With SLSWA competitions running from October until March next year, both boys are working hard to give themselves the best chance of success.
They are also good to know in a crisis.
Both members of the Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club, they were at the beach in October 2023 when alerted to a man who had come off his kayak 150m from shore.
There were no lifeguards on duty, so Tom made a beeline for the man on his racing paddleboard. Younger brother Harry followed him into the surf.
Even though the man was fully clothed, adding weight to the rescue, they managed to get him on the kayak and safely back to shore. The man recovered quickly.
At the time, Tom held his Bronze Medallion and Harry held his SRC.
Harry is looking to complete histraining for his Bronze Medallion in the next few months. The family is headed to QLD in a few weeks to cheer on Tom in the Coolangatta Gold.
To nominate someone like Tom and Harry in the category of Community Youth Citizen of the Year, visit Community Citizen of the Year Award website.
Community Group of the Year – Fostering Hope
Since Fostering Hope received the City’s Community Group of the Year in January it has opened a new support network for an organisation dedicated to kids in foster care.
The brainchild of Lorraine Lekias and Linzi Mooney, the idea behind the charity is simple: To ensure all children deserve to feel support and love.
Fostering Hope promotes the reuse of children’s items by accepting pre-loved and new donations at stores and various drop-off points.
The organisation continues to send support to remote WA communities and other charities by gathering donated goods (clothing, toys, nappies, school bags and more) and providing them to children and families (at no cost).
Their amazing Fostering Hope village has grown throughout 2024 with more than 17k members now supporting their Facebook page.
The charity has hosted several events for kids in care including easter at the zoo. A Halloween disco is on the cards for October and planning is already underway for a huge Christmas party
“The City’s award helped us raise awareness about Fostering Hope. 2024 has been a crazy rollercoaster ride, new doors opening and a lot more opportunities for us, but it’s worth every second of it. I would not change it for the world,” Lorraine said.
If you’d like to nominate a group like Fostering Hope in the category of Community Group of the Year, visit Community Citizen of the Year Award website.