THE City of Fremantle is calling for nominations for the 2024 Citizen of the Year awards, so put your thinking caps on and contemplate who might be deserving of the community recognition. 

There are four categories; citizen of the year, senior citizen of the year, young citizen (under 30) of the year, and active citizen group of the year.

I am delighted and honoured to have received the award twice. 

In January this year I received the Fremantle Senior Citizen of the Year, and 11 years ago the Fremantle Citizen of the Year. 

That is very humbling.

There are so many people in the Freo community who do really good work without getting much accolades for what they do, so think of those who do so many of the small things that make Fremantle such a great place to live.

I believe the Fremantle Volunteer Heritage Guides deserve to be acknowledged for their dedicated work.

The group has opened the historic Roundhouse for hundreds of thousands of visitors every day of the week for over three decades, in all weather conditions.

One of the early Council, Townhall and Fishing Boat Harbour tourists guides was Shirley Burbidge, who has been a Roundhouse volunteer guide for 23 years and is still doing that. 

She is also a Fremantle Ports Victoria Quay volunteer guide. 

Now that’s an example of dedication and commitment for you!

There are people who organise street fests, olive picking, street kitchens, tree planting, and many other things. 

Take for example Hans Hug, who has been the passionate manager of the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra for many years, where he also plays the cello. 

Or the National Hotel’s Karl Bullers, who, with many volunteers, organises the yearly Long Table Dinner in support of St Pats.

So many good Freo people are willing to give up their private time to support others, or to do creative things that connect people in our community. 

They do that totally independently, or at schools, sporting clubs, neighbourhood groups, etc. 

Who stands out for you? 

Who should you be nominating?

I would also like to see some changes made to the citizenship award. 

It is nice to receive a certificate and gold medal from the Fremantle Mayor, but that is just a very short moment in time. 

I wonder if Fremantle could not invite citizens of the year to all official city functions, as additional acknowledgment of their dedication to our community. 

Or ask them to do some inspirational speaking and mentoring for young and old. 

That would be really nice.

As for that gold medal that comes with the certificate. 

It does not even mention Fremantle. 

It only says Community Citizen of the Year Awards. 

And why the ribbon, to hang the medal around your neck, is red, white and blue, not green and gold, is anyone’s guess. 

Or maybe we erroneously have received the Dutch or French citizens of the year awards?

Special

Not everyone who works hard for their community will get the citizen of the year award. 

That means that we should regularly let people know how special they are and how much we appreciate their dedication to our communities.

We should not take volunteers for granted, and neither should we expect that they will be doing it forever. 

Others need to step up and take on the responsibility of organising community events, and all those other things that require people to do a lot of hard work without getting paid for it.

Receiving the yearly award is special, so nominate those special people and groups, so that they feel how much we appreciate what they are doing for us!

To nominate a local hero, visit http://www.citizenshipawards.com.au/nominate 

Roel Loopers/FREOVIEW