In recognition of community members of Woollahra that have demonstrated excellent citizenship and contribution to the people of Woollahra and/or the wider community, Council host its 2008 Woollahra Citizen and Young Citizen of the Year Awards.

Twelve residents of Woollahra were nominated for the Woollahra Citizen of the Year and one resident for the Woollahra Young Citizen of the Year. All nominees have voluntarily undertaken activities that have demonstrated excellent citizenship, enhanced the quality of community life and contributed to the well being of others in the community.

The winner of the 2008 Citizen of the Year Award is William Bill Holmes and the winner of the 2008 Young Citizen of the Year is Ms Emily Margo.

The nominations, in alphabetical order, are:

Woollahra Citizen of the Year:

Mrs Ruby Jean Foote of Woollahra - for her contributions to the Paddington Women’s Bowling Club since 1975 and Woollahra Seniors Centre since 2000.

Miss Doreen Garrick of Woollahra - for her contribution to the Woollahra Seniors Centre for over 12 years.

Mr Darel Hughes of Woollahra - for his contribution to the Woollahra Seniors Centre since 2001.

Mr William Bill Holmes of Darling Point - for his longstanding contribution to the Woollahra Seniors Centre as one of the original member of the committee and long standing involvement with the Centre for over 50 years.

Mrs Aileen Kadison of Darling Point - for her contributions to the community including her volunteer aide role with Camperdown Children’s Hospital and her dedicated fundraising efforts for organisations including EZRA and Scarba in the past 40 years.

Mr Paul Kornmehl of Darling Point - for his generosity and support of over thirty charities across Australia.

Mr Paul Lendavy of Woollahra - for his work in the field of microsurgery and establishment of the Microsurgery Foundation.

Mrs Charlene Mead of Vaucluse - for her contributions and dedication to the community through her participation in the Woollahra Council Access Committee since 2000.

Dr Richard Reid of Edgecliff - for his work in the medical field and his support of Ageing in Women’s Health.

Mr Drew Robertson of Woollahra - for his contribution to the Woollahra Seniors Centre for over 12 years.

Dr John Solomon of Darling Point - for his work with cancer patients.

Mr Charles Wade of Darling Point - for his contributions to the Woollahra Community Safety Committee and his tireless efforts as a local Police Volunteer.

Woollahra Young Citizen of the Year:

Emily Margo Emily of Rose Bay - for her active leadership in public health and community fundraising for Red Cross Appeal, Salvation Army Rose Bay and representative for Rotaract Rotary International at the UNSW.

The 2008 Woollahra Citizen and Young Citizen of the Year Awards were announced at a presentation held at Woollahra Council Chambers on Wednesday 23 January. The presentation was hosted as part of the 2008 Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony and was followed by light refreshments. All nominees were presented with a Certificate of Recognition and a framed stamp sheet containing their image that was provided by the Australia Day Council. Guest Australia Day Ambassador, Ms Melissa Medlicott assigned to the area by the Australia Day Council of NSW presented the awards to the winners.

Following is some brief biographical information on Melissa Medlicot:

Melissa is a track and field athlete who has represented Australia eight times in sprint events. Melissa was the 100m champion in the Australian Grand Prix series in 1991 and ran both the 200m and the sprint relay at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. The lure of competing in a home Olympics drew her back into full training, and that move came to fruition at the Sydney Olympic trials. Her performance in the 100 metres at the trials, finishing fourth in the final, was enough to secure her a place in the 4x100m relay team for the Games. It was a dream come true for Medlicott, a born and bred Sydneysider.

If you would like further information on the 2008 Woollahra Citizen of the Year Awards program please contact: