Before: Rochester Community Playspace committee co-chairpersons Heather Darbyshire and Eliza Watson at the site before works began.
Photo by
Alex Gretgrix
Rochester’s Citizens of the Year have been announced ahead of tomorrow’s ceremony at the Australia Day breakfast at Lions Park.
Restored: The historic windmill being returned to the site of the new Rochester Playspace ‘Wirima’.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
Community Group of the Year: Wirima in Rotary Park Committee
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The Wirima in Rotary Park Committee is made up of a dynamic multi-age group of five passionate women: Eliza Watson, Heather Darbyshire, Jeanne Aitken, Naomi Riordan and Rebekah Hocking.
They have worked with the Rochester community and the Campaspe Shire Council to initiate, plan and complete the development of ‘Wirima’, a nature-based Playspace in Rotary Park over the past four years.
In consultation with the community, schools, the kindergarten and early childhood services, they developed a dream of what could be.
The vision was for a place without manufactured plastic playground equipment, but instead one with logs, rocks, sand and places for families to stop for a while, relax and play, and a place for the wider community to meet in a calm sensory environment.
The committee worked with the local First Nations community and families of children with additional needs to provide a respectful place for all.
They wanted a place for visitors to bring their children and explore all that Rochester has to offer, boosting the local economy and community pride.
The team members faced a steep learning curve, and now have new skills including writing design briefs, interviewing landscape architects and negotiating the constraints of such a project.
They developed skills as a group to research, resource and to be as sustainable as possible.
They supported Rochester Rotary Club and the community in the revitalisation of the historic windmill so that it could remain in the park.
The group received funding through the Murray Darling Basin Grants, and received assistance from the Rochester Business Network and Campaspe Shire Council to complete the project.
Each member of this group has used their individual skills to come together to achieve their collective dream of a special place for Rochester and for Campaspe families long into the future.
Young citizen: Dimity Pearson has been named Rochester & District’s Young Citizen of the Year.
Volunteer: Dimity Pearson has been a leader in the youth space in Rochester and District.
Young Citizen of the Year: Dimity Pearson of Nanneella
Dimity Pearson has been a leader in the youth space, representing Rochester and surrounds as well as the Campaspe Shire Council on a variety of youth projects and advocacy groups.
Dimity is a fantastic role model, with a compassionate and empathetic nature, and she is determined to make a difference in her community by ensuring young people have their voices heard.
Dimity has made an outstanding contribution to the community during a challenging and tumultuous 2021.
Her employment has been disrupted by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in her juggling a number of jobs, while still dedicating many hours to voluntary roles.
Dimity has been integral member of the Campaspe Youth Advisory Group since early 2020, and she has inspired many other young YAG members to keep achieving, despite the barriers to participation that the pandemic has created.
Recently, Dimity was chosen along with a fellow YAG member to deliver the group’s 2021 presentation to Campaspe Shire councillors and executive management.
Dimity worked tirelessly on this presentation, as she was committed to making sure the key youth issues, ideas and recommendations were delivered in a respectful and constructive manner.
The subsequent discussions from this presentation have focused on prioritising youth participation across the shire.
Earlier in 2021, Dimity nominated to join the We Hear YOUth project.
The project was a collaboration between young people, Thorne Harbour Health, Victoria University and YLab.
Dimity was one of six young volunteers across the Loddon Mallee region involved in this project, which was focused on young people sharing their experiences of living in regional/rural areas, and their hopes and visions for the future.
Finally, Dimity was selected to share her lived experience in the Committee for Echuca-Moama’s Dare to Dream project.
Dimity was able to bravely share her experiences of being a young person in Campaspe who has overcome barriers to pursue her own dreams, in addition to always keeping in mind the hopes, dreams and future aspirations of all young people across the Campaspe Shire.
Honoured: Bev Hoffman has been named the Rochester district’s Citizen of the Year.
Hard work: Bev Hoffman is one of the longest serving volunteers at Rochester Community House.
Citizen of the Year: Bev Hoffman of Rochester
Bev has been a long-standing volunteer at Rochester Community House.
She has supported many of the programs that the house manages, including the Foodshare program, Community Kitchen and Men’s Shed, and is also an active member of the house’s committee of management.
Bev has been instrumental in the success of the organisation, which relies heavily on the commitment of volunteers, and she is the first to put her hand up to help older, more vulnerable members of the community, constantly putting others before herself.
Nominator Amanda Logie said in her submission that she first met Bev following the 2011 floods when her property was heavily impacted by flood waters, and even then, her first concern was for her elderly neighbours.
Bev has also volunteered her time at events the house has run, and at the monthly Rochester town market, which RCH previously managed.
When the Community Kitchen program was in danger of folding, it was Bev who pursued the continuation of the essential social program, and she is happy to share her cooking and baking skills.
Bev treats everyone with respect and a welcoming and caring attitude.
