Celebrating South Australia\'s amazing volunteers

An 89-year-old woman who has spent half her life helping homeless South Australians is among five outstanding individuals and organisations honoured at a ceremony marking the generous efforts of South Australia’s volunteers.

Dulcie Boag, who volunteers with the Hutt Street Centre, was awarded The Joy Noble Medal, South Australia’s highest distinction for an individual volunteer, at tonight's 2024 South Australian Volunteer Awards.

Coinciding with National Volunteer Week, the awards were presented by Minister for Human Services Nat Cook across a range of categories:

• The Joy Noble Medal - South Australia’s highest distinction for an individual volunteer, to Dulcie Boag from the Hutt Street Centre
• ‘The Andamooka’ Community Project Award - Recognising a community or group volunteer project of significant community benefit, to the Rotary Club of Onkaparinga for the APY Lands Shelter Project
• The Young Volunteer Award – Honouring an impressive young volunteer aged 12 to 25, to Atiu Kuot Madut
• The Excellence in Volunteer Management Award - Honouring a volunteer manager for their outstanding contribution to the profession, to Manju Shelke from the Northern Healthcare Volunteer Association
• The Premier’s Award for Corporate Social Responsibility – Recognising the community contribution of a South Australian for-profit business, to Beyond Bank Australia.

Short bios are provided on each winner below.

Established by the State Government in 2005, the South Australian Volunteer Awards are presented by Volunteering SA&NT and supported by the South Australian Department of Human Services (DHS).

An independent judging panel assessed the nominations. Judges considered the nominee’s achievements in relation to their commitment, level of service and how their work benefited the South Australian community.

For more information about the Awards, visit vsant.org.au/savolunteerawards

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Quotes

Attributable to Nat Cook

South Australia is well known as a state where volunteering is both widespread and warmly welcomed.

In fact, almost 1 million South Australians – about half of the state’s population - volunteer their time and skills to help others.

The SA Volunteer Awards are a wonderful way to recognise the exceptional and often unsung contribution of individuals, community groups, managers and businesses in the State, and to mark the stand-out efforts of the selected winners.

I congratulate all of the nominees, and especially the winners, for their tremendous efforts and for all they are giving back to their communities.

Attributable to Hamilton Calder, Chief Executive, Volunteering SA&NT

Volunteering SA&NT is proud to partner with the State Government to present the prestigious South Australian Volunteer Awards.

Volunteering Week is about thanking every volunteer for their service. They are the heart and soul of our community.

The awards acknowledge some of the most outstanding achievements across our diverse volunteering sector.

I thank everyone who took the time to nominate for the awards and I extend my warmest congratulations to the winners.

2024 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN VOLUNTEER AWARD WINNERS

Joy Noble Medal: South Australia’s highest distinction for an individual volunteer
Winner: Dulcie Boag - Hutt Street Centre

Dulcie Boag has been an integral part of Hutt St Centre for over 44 years, contributing her time, skills, and compassion to almost all aspects of the organisation.

Dulcie has helped the Hutt St Centre through its Op Shop, front reception, sorting donations, coordinating fundraising efforts and events, and helping out in the kitchen.

Her steadfast presence and compassionate nature have been a source of comfort and support for countless individuals facing homelessness.

In a terrific recent milestone of her own, Dulcie celebrated her 89th birthday – which equates to her committing almost half her life to Hutt St Centre!

The Young Volunteer Award: Recognising an impressive young volunteer
The Young Volunteer Award is presented in partnership with Volunteering SA&NT and the Youth Affairs Council of SA (YACSA)
Winner: Atiu Kuot Madut

Atiu has volunteered with the Australian Refugee Association (ARA) since 2018 as a Peer Leader in its Youth Ambassador program.

After being a participant, she has returned each year as a mentor to new students undertaking the program.

The program focuses on developing leadership skills and confidence for high school students who are passionate about refugee issues, so that they can be advocates for positive change.

Through her involvement as a volunteer, Atiu has played a meaningful role in helping young people identify their ideas, vision for their communities and discover their unique leadership style and capacity.

'The Andamooka’ Community Project Award: Recognising a community or group volunteer project of significant community benefit
Winner: APY Lands Shelter Project - The Rotary Club of Onkaparinga

Through the APY Lands Shelter Project, the Rotary Club of Onkaparinga designed and constructed a number of purpose-built roadside shelters with an accompanying water tank, wind protection and table setting which are placed adjacent to roadsides in strategic locations.

With the APY Lands covering over 103,000 square kilometres, this very remote part of South Australia poses significant issues for the indigenous people when travelling between communities.

Having a designated, known place to rest or to seek emergency shelter, to have access to shade, wind break and water is a vital component of keeping people safe in these remote areas.

The Excellence in Volunteer Management Award: Recognising a volunteer manager for their outstanding contribution to the profession
The Excellence in Volunteer Management Award is presented in partnership with Volunteering SA&NT.
Winner: Manju Shelke - Northern Healthcare Volunteer Association

Each year the Northern Healthcare Volunteer Association has provided an average of 97,000 hours of community service to patients and families across the Lyell McEwin Hospital, Modbury Hospital, James Nash House and Northgate.

Manju Shelke has made a huge impact as Volunteer Coordinator. Her review of the program helped to identify opportunities where volunteers could better support the needs of the Health System.

Manju collaboratively developed the greatly appreciated 'Comfort Care Program', where volunteers can cuddle, read, sing, play or just sit with infants or children to provide support when hospital staff are occupied performing clinical tasks.

She also revived and revitalised the much-valued Palliative Care Biography program at the Modbury Hospital, which enables patients in Palliative Care to share and record their life story as they near the end of life.

The Premier's Award for Corporate Social Responsibility: Recognising the community contribution of a South Australian for-profit business
Winner: Beyond Bank Australia

Beyond Bank is one of Australia’s largest customer-owned banks with branches and offices across Australia.

It partners with more than 5000 community organisations around the nation to create and return value for its customers and communities and, through this, change lives.

Beyond Bank is a huge supporter of volunteering, facilitating corporate volunteering programs and providing all staff with two fully paid volunteer leave days per year – with its SA team volunteering for nearly 740 hours in 2023.