Phoebe's citation: Phoebe Mitchell is a true Local Legend at Torquay Community House. Attending weekly, Phoebe generously dedicates her time to making the space beautiful and providing a welcoming environment. Phoebe's commitment, reliability, and friendly presence make a significant impact, supporting both staff and community members. Her work is vital to TCH, fostering an inclusive and caring environment. We proudly nominate Phoebe for her dedication and the positive difference she makes to our community every week.

Phoebe responds to our questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements?

Every Thursday I do lots of different jobs for the TCH, like opening reception, opening the curtains and unlocking the roller door and then I bring in the bins. Then I check the mail for them, turn on all the lights and I make the house look welcoming. I tidy up a bit around reception and then I go to the kitchen and do whatever is needed there, like unpacking the dishwasher or turning it on. I check the expiry date on the milks too, and I restock the biscuit jar. I check the toilets and bathroom and restock. 

Once the groups are about to start, I make sure they are ready with blinds open and I open the door for them. After some other groups I clean the tables and chairs and vacuum. I check the dates on the notice board for current dates and activities.

In the office I help by doing shredding, sometimes data entry, clean windows and any other jobs they ask me to help with. I tidy the foyer at the end of the day.

I love greeting people and learning new skills. Prue, Erin and Jo are just lovely to work with. I feel it’s a great achievement to be able to contribute to the community.

What motivates you?

I love working with people and feeling very much included and part of the team. I love learning new things and skills.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

I didn’t know that there was this award. I am very proud that the Torquay Community House nominated me as I am so happy working there and feeling included and useful. I have lived my whole life in the Surf Coast Shire so it’s wonderful.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

Everybody is so nice and welcoming and they include me in so many things. I have received a few awards from Surf Coast Shire during my swimming career, but this is different and very special, thank you.

Grant's citation: Grant established Winki Wildlife Shelters in Torquay in 2023 after operating as a standalone wildlife shelter since 2018, and has tirelessly, selflessly and without fanfare rescued and cared for hundreds of native birds and animals.

At any one time Grant may be caring for and rehabilitating multiple kangaroos, wallabies, possums and native birds while at the same time coordinating and attending multiple wildlife rescues.
Grant also conducts training for Wildlife Victoria in basic rescue and care of wild life to increase the number of available wildlife rescue volunteers; something that is desperately needed.

Grant responds to our questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements?

I began my wildlife care journey in 2017 as a macropod rescuer, as seeing ‘roos that had been injured in vehicle strikes kept triggering me. I began volunteering at Jirrahlinga Koala and Wildlife Sanctuary in the same year and began my foster caring journey. I looked after a range of animals, including koalas, wombats, macropods – kangaroos and wallabies –  and dingoes.

I knew the closure of Jirrahlinga was going to leave a huge problem for rehabilitating injured wildlife, so I continued foster-caring under Winchelsea Wildlife Shelter before starting Winki Wildlife Shelters, based in Torquay.

It’s a small set-up and there’s always work to do, but we’ve had almost 190 animals come through since becoming a DEECA wildlife shelter in 2023. Establishing the shelter has been a necessity.

Most of the animals I take in are orphans, so a lot of time and energy goes into them. Some of the joeys need 3-4-hourly feeds in those initial stages, so it’s fairly intensive. Their rehabilitation is a slow process and they remain in our care for extended periods.

I’m proud that my role extends to rescues and assisting other voluntary groups. I’m also a training facilitator for Wildlife Victoria, which allows me to share the skills and knowledge I have gained over the years.

What motivates you?

I started the shelter because I knew there was a need for it in Surf Coast and I wanted to do some good. It is my soul food!

I fell in love with the rehabilitation of wildlife years ago. There’s nothing better than raising a wild animal and helping to get it to a stage where it can be released back into its environment.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

I really appreciate it. It means a lot to be acknowledged for the effort because it is a big job and takes a huge commitment.

But it’s not just me. I would like to acknowledge all of our amazing volunteers. We’ve got an amazing crew and this wouldn’t be possible without them – many who have been with me a long time, since the Jirrahlinga days.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

I’ve known Torquay my whole life. It was always a dream of mine to move down here, and I did it 14 years ago after living in Ferntree Gully.
I love the environment here, the wildlife and the rural feel.  And I love the beach and the water.

It’s a very special place.

Marie's citation: Marie is central to 1st Modewarre Scout Group running. She was running all sections as well as being the group leader. She also is part of Project Meow and has been part of many community groups in the past.

Marie responds to our questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements.

At the moment I’m mainly involved in the 1^st Modewarre Scouts which I’ve been doing for 30-odd years.

I started when my kids were involved and it has come full circle because I now have two grandchildren who have just become involved this year.

Being involved with scouts, I think it’s a really great organisation and the aims of supporting kids in their development as individuals is more important than ever.

And it’s very rewarding. It’s not just that the kids get something out of it, I think as adults we get a lot out of it. Being able to provide activities and programs and watch kids mature through the different age sections is really rewarding.

We get to do some really great things as well and have some big adventures with the scouts.

I’m now group leader at 1st Modewarre and I also do joey scouts. I’ve done all the sections at one time or another but at the moment I’m having fun with the five to eight-year-olds and overseeing the group.

What motivates you?

I think you have to volunteer.

Without volunteers things don’t happen – Auskick doesn’t happen, Milo Cricket doesn’t happen, scouts-guides don’t happen, schools reading support and all that support just doesn’t happen.

Over the years I guess I’ve been lucky to be able to be involved in a heap of different things. I’ve done school swimming, bike ed, reading, helped with maths, scouts has been a big thing, and other committees like Lake Modewarre Committee and Landcare.

Another has been with Geelong Animal Welfare Society and that has developed into helping a separate volunteer organisation with a focus on helping people get their cats desexed.

I think I’ve had the time to do it and it has been rewarding personally, but also to see change and success in areas you are helping in, that’s really important for the people you do it for.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

It was a surprise, totally unexpected!

I’m proud to be recognised for being involved. That’s not why you do it but acknowledgement of course is appreciated.

It’s a nice feeling.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

There are lots of different ways to be involved.

We moved here 20 years ago from Colac Otway and that was a similar situation.

I live out near Winchelsea, so we’re out of town and that’s where I like to be. It has a lot of opportunities to get involved in different ways.

Heath's citation: President of Lorne Surf Life Saving Club, member of Lorne CFA, former Victorian life saver of the year, among many other initiatives he has introduced programs bringing indigenous children from Arnhem Land to Lorne to teach life saving, and a program where refugees from Colac area come to Lorne Surf Life Saving Club to learn about life saving.  Heath lives and has a business in Lorne, he is very community-minded and deserves recognition

Heath responds to our questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements?

I started at Lorne Surf Life Saving Club in 2013 as a lifesaver, to maintain my bronze medallion. I had no intention to be as involved as I am.

Now I’m at the end of my second season as president with some very proud achievements along the way.

I’m proud of the work we’ve done with culturally diverse people and spreading the water safety message.

We worked with the Chinese and Sudanese communities in Colac and found there was a real lack of understanding about what it is that we do. It was great to build their understanding, and also our understanding, and have such an immediate impact. There were key learnings for both of us.

We also ran a program with children from Arnhem Land where English was their third or fourth language. We taught them about our culture and beach safety, and they welcomed us to their Country to show us their culture.

We’ve been integrating more with local emergency services. Traditionally there hasn’t been a huge crossover but there are now five of us from the surf life saving club who are also CFA volunteers and providing pathways for lifesavers.

The Lorne Pier to Pub is a behemoth. Ultimately it’s a sold-out swim and run with 5,200 swimmers and 2,500 runners, plus an estimated 25,000 spectators.

There’s been a lot of legacy work to get the event to where it’s at today, and we’re very fortunate that the people coming through over the years have done amazing amounts of work.

We’re fortunate that we get to continue to add to it each year, thanks to more than 400 volunteers including a really strong sub-committee.

We’re also pushing to increase engagement right across our membership. We’ve got 2,000 members and this year we had 620 Nippers.

This season we had a patrol where we did 37 rescues in one weekend, and 68 across the season.

What motivates you?

I don’t particularly like to sit still and I enjoy being part of a great team, it’s something I’m really proud of. Both the surf club and CFA have great teams.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

It is very, very humbling. It was also a massive shock.

There are so many people in our shire who do a huge amount of work for their communities.

Our communities wouldn’t run the way they do if it wasn’t for volunteering, I feel very honoured to be recognised among such great community members.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

I’m lucky to live and work in Lorne.

I love the freedom. I love the beach and the bush and the surf and the lack of traffic.

I also love the ups and downs of community life. Lorne can get a bit cabin fever-ish towards the end of winter, but then it’s great when everyone comes together to get through the busy summer.

Mary's citation: I would like to nominate Mary McNaughton. Mary has been practicing Tai Chi for well over a decade. During Covid she was approached by the Surf Coast Shire Council to lead a Tai Chi class outdoors. After Covid she took on the role of leading the practice in Taylor Park, Torquay, every Thursday to a large group of loyal followers free of charge. She is an incredible giving lady and we would love to see her contribution to the community acknowledged.

Involvement and most important achievements?

Mary has been practicing Tai Chi for over 15 years. During COVID she was asked to start Tai Chi classes outdoors and started the Thursday classes in Taylor Park, which are still going five years later. She also teaches Tai Chi at the senior citizens club and Kithbrooke Park. That’s over 100 people she teaches every week.

Motivation?

Mary practices Tai Chi every day and was happy to start classes when asked. She keeps up to date with the latest moves and passes these on at her classes. She is a great teacher who can explain the moves easily and everyone can follow along. She loves the slow movement of Tai Chi and the wellbeing you get from regular practice.

What does it mean to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

Mary doesn’t think she is worth of being nominated, but her nominee Val  said she deserves the recognition for passing her love of Tai Chi on to so many people in the community.

What does Mary love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

It’s a great community to be part of and we are lucky to be living here. After holidaying here for over 50 years, permanently moved here 35 years ago.

Mary has also been a member of Probus for over 15 years and when the group was in danger of folding she stepped up to be president for the second time. 

Melissa's citation: Melissa volunteers hundreds of hours to ensure our Torquay Football Club players can play football each year. For many years she has taken on multiple roles within the club, never complaining and always getting the job done. As a parent and a volunteer, I feel extremely lucky to have Melissa putting in the hard yards for our club and kids.

Melissa responds to our questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements:

My son is 20 now so I’ve been involved with the club since he was 8. I refused to do Auskick, enjoyed my Sunday mornings!  We are now a fourth generation at the club, my husband’s father being a life member.

I basically started with team roles like most parents do, then I went to age group co-ordinator and now I’m secretary and head of the junior male program.

Probably the biggest achievement you can do is make sure every team plays their game of football. That’s the aim of the club and everyone who volunteers for it. We all work extremely hard to get this to happen from junior to senior level.

It’s wonderful to see the excitement of the junior players. It’s a good feeling.

What motivates you?

I don’t know to be honest! I think I’m just a yes person unfortunately. I like to just get it done. I’m one of those people who just ticks things off.

I do love a club environment, when you’ve got good people around you it’s like a second family and TFC has this.  I also enjoy helping, that’s what most volunteers do, help.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

It’s a bit embarrassing but lovely. I am very honoured and thankful to my nominator.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

I’ve been here just over 30 years. I just think everyone is very helpful.

It’s getting a bit harder as we get bigger, but I still feel that we do have a good community, and it’s a great place to live.

I’ve seen lots of changes, and I do prefer the smaller Torquay, but the younger generations coming up don’t know any different and they just love this town and what it offers, so we all must be doing something right!

Jason's citation: Many years of supporting our community and local wildlife All his generous time and passion is mostly self funded Without Jason so many animals would be left to die on our roads
A truly great person

Jason responds to our questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements?

I’ve been rescuing animals for over 15 years and my partner and I started Surf Coast Wildlife Rescue about 10 years ago.  We now have 130 rescuers.

We can rescue anywhere up to 10 animals per day, seven days per week. We see a large portion of kangaroos and wallabies, but everything from koalas to wedgetail eagles and even an emu.

Our most important achievement is getting all those people rescuing and letting people know that they too can help rescue the animals.  Raising public awareness is important and it has been good to see the attitude of the community change.

What motivates you?

The fact that the animals need somebody to help. They deserve our love and respect, and that’s what we’re here to do.

There was previously no real avenue to help injured wildlife, which is why I started doing this. Years ago I came across a kangaroo that had been hit at Bells Beach and stopped to help. The only person I could find to help came from Leopold and it took three hours for them to arrive. I thought that was pretty poor on our behalf given how many people live here.

Rather than complain, I thought I’d do something about it.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

It’s not so much about acknowledgement, it’s more about making the community understand that they have an avenue when they are unlucky enough to hit an animal on the road or come across an injured animal.  They can call us 24/7 and we’ll send someone straight away.

It’s about helping the animal as well as the community member.

A large portion of the community knows who we are and appreciate our help.

What would you say to people who might be considering contributing to a community group such as yours?

You too can help an animal if you want. Contact us at Surf Coast Wildlife Rescue on 0422 048 557.

Tony's citation: Tony and his group have promoted and encouraged anyone and everyone to participate in kicking the footy around each Sunday morning at Anglesea. It has had a positive impact on many people, locals, visitors and holidaymakers by having fun, increasing their confidence, improving their general fitness and football skills and social connection within the community. He has made informal awards, certificates and T-shirts for several of the regular participants which further increases their sense of belonging, confidence and enjoyment of the regular gathering.

Tony responds to our questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements.

About four years ago I was thinking I miss kicking the footy, because I played a bit of local footy.

I’m not one to go for a 10km run, I don’t find that very satisfying, so I just put it out on social media – would anyone be interested in having a kick, I’ll be here on Sunday at this point. For the first three weeks, no-one turned up.

The fourth week a bloke and his daughter turned up and I sheepishly went over to them and said you’re not here to have a kick are you? They were, and we started having a kick.

Week by week more people joined and fast forward to today and we can get anywhere between 10 and 35 people having a kick every single Sunday, 52 weeks of the year – Easter, Christmas doesn’t matter. It can be blizzards, 41 degrees, everyone knows someone is always going to be there for a kick.

It’s more than just kicking the footy. I’m very proud that it’s very inclusive, we have young kids there, boys and girls, we’ve had people in their 70s, we’ve had Canadians there who couldn’t kick a footy, we’ve had father-sons, we’ve had grandfather-grandkids, and we’ve got this really great core group of people who see the importance of it over and above just kicking a footy who make sure we continue on.

We have a bit of a loose warm-up, if you want to run a lap you can but there’s no rules. Then we’ll do circlework with one footy – never two that’s an important rule – and then we’ll break at half time and generally ask ‘has anyone got anything to say?’

We’ve had a Welcome to Country, an Anzac speech, birthdays, deaths, marriages, births, all sorts of things mentioned at half time, mostly good but sometimes hard stuff and often  humorous. Then we get out and finish it off, when the body says no more, you can pull up stumps and then eight times out of 10 we’ll take a group photo and one of the other guys will send out the photo with a summary of the day. It’s always very positive and reminds you what a great thing it is.

What motivates you?

The primary thing is the movement and getting some exercise kicking a footy which I’ve always loved, but now it’s bigger, it’s just being part of that community.

It is just on Sundays but many hang around for a chat afterwards or grab a coffee, people catch up socially sometimes, and we’re constantly talking via the WhatsApp group about things – it might be about the footy, cricket or it might be about the environment, whatever.

Obviously when you bring a community like that together, everyone’s on their own life journeys with the ups and downs and when things have happened, there’s been some magic where the group has rallied and embraced the people in need.

We’ve had people dealing with deaths in families, job issues, mental health issues and it’s been a forum where people can just have a chat around kicking a footy.

I’m really motivated. I shook hands and made a pact with one of the guys and said let’s make sure we’re here when we’re 70. That’s two of us but I think there’s probably another 15 who see it as just as important and will be kicking the footy around as long as the body lets them.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

It’s very humbling in the first instance but I’m a little bit embarrassed it’s just me because it’s the bigger group that keeps it going. That’s not just a token thing to say. It’s the bigger group of people who all find it important to get there every Sunday when they can to make sure that this thing keeps going.

I’m very humbled and honoured by this nomination but it’s about the bigger group.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

Obviously the environment is conducive to getting people out and about – the ocean, the forests, the rivers, the sports fields – but I think there’s a common mindset of wellness and plenty of opportunities to keep moving and keep healthy.

Ben's citation: Ben has been president of the Anglesea Bowling Club for four years and has been the lead driving force to completely revitalise and rejuvenate the club from somewhere nobody wanted to be, to being an absolute community hub. A club that facilitates giving back to the community, one that runs charity days grossing over $10,000 for mental health. A club that is a popular summer destination, and the go-to place to be on a Friday night.
In an age where bowling clubs across the state are dying, our little club in Anglesea is absolutely thriving. And this can be absolutely attributed to Ben's enthusiasm, and ability to drag people along with him.

Ben responds to our questions: 

Describe your involvement with Anglesea Bowls Club and what you regard as your most important achievements?
When I found my way to the club, I was the youngest member for a couple of years and the only person around my age. I realised that if they didn’t change some things the club was doing, they weren’t going to recruit younger people.
After being a member for a couple of years I thought, ‘there is only one way to help the club make change and that was to get involved,’ so I joined the board and eventually became president.
I’ve got a background in hospitality and I’ve had a focus on the accessibility to the club. It’s a great club and always has been, but I felt it was a bit of a closed shop. My business in Melbourne was a community-minded business, with things like art shows, theatre and music, so I guess I brought a bit of that experience and thinking to this role. People need to feel welcomed and have a positive experience.
The aim was to change the culture to make it more of a community hub as well as a bowling club, which we’ve managed to do. This does two things, it makes it more valuable to the community and exposes more to what a great inclusive sport it is.

What motivates you?
As we are volunteers we all know it isn’t the paycheque! I call it the best unpaid job I have ever had.
I’ve always had a sense of community, and when I see that things can improve, I like to jump in and get my hands dirty. I feel like it's a great inclusive sport for all and so many wait to get into as it was for the most part geared toward retirees in Australia.
It’s a great community, we have great members, the club’s in a beautiful spot, and especially with the new building and updated surroundings it looks amazing. I wanted to involve the community and make it available to more people to come into.
We currently have Tai Chi, yoga in summer, a weekly coffee offering on Saturday mornings with sourdough bread baked on premises. A lot of community clubs now have their meetings here, such as the Lions, and we host a lot of charity events.
We do a Pink Lady lunch, Bowl For Your Lives day where we fundraise for mental health and the Black Dog Institute, we have also raised funds for research into Parkinsons, donate to our local Food Link and many others during our barefoot events.
We’ve been able to really give back to the community, and create a better place for people to be in and hang out. Of course, the prices are always good at a bowls club, so that helps too!

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?
It was out of left field – I didn’t expect it and it’s an honour that someone thought highly enough to make the effort and nominate me.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?
I love that there are so many things that happen along the coast. It's a lovely place to host events, such as all the markets, and the bike tours and rides and events such as Roo Run and the Surf Coast Century.
It’s a beautiful place and I’m very grateful we have it as our home ground.

Citation: Colby is a community psychologist whose tireless efforts in mental health advocacy have made a significant impact on the Surf Coast community and across Victoria. His years of volunteer work with Lifeline Geelong, advocacy for NDIS participants, First Nations People,  women, and leadership in making mental health resources more accessible have changed lives. Colby’s social media, nearing 10,000 followers, simplifies complex mental health research, empowering thousands to improve their wellbeing. Through his recently published book and academic research, Colby has demonstrated leadership in making mental wellness advice available to all.

Colby responds to our questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements?

I work in the community psychology space which focuses on proactive prevention instead of diagnosis and treatment. 

I’ve been involved with a number of community groups and organisations including Lifeline as a volunteer crisis supporter and trainer. My work includes advocating for people living with disability and speaking at local events. I have also undertaken and published research helping advocate for First Nations people and women. 

More recently I have been using social media (@the.psychologist.nutritionist) as a way to freely communicate and share the latest mental health research about how things like foods, supplements, exercises and blood test results can benefit mental health.

I have also recently published my first book Mental Wellness The Secret Ingredients, which focuses on prevention and empowering readers to assess their current mental health, decode their blood test results, understand supplements, eat and move with purpose, improve their sleep and practice some at-home cognitive behaviour therapy.”

What motivates you?

My family work in the health field. Mum has been a nurse for over 40 years and watching her connect with and care for her aged care clients definitely left an imprint on me. I also grew up in a small country town with a population of around 1500 people, where we had limited access to psychologists and mental health support. The prevalence of suicide was devastating and that spurred me on in the early days to study psychology.

I think these couple with a natural instinct to see problems and fix them. In Australia and our local community we aren't seeing any reductions in the prevalence of mental health challenges and this is something I want to help fix. I think this is partly due to our hyperfocus on diagnosis and treatment rather than proactive prevention and alternative treatment approaches which go beyond antidepressants and talk therapy.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

It’s pretty special. I was looking at some of the previous Legends and the things they’re doing in our community - it’s pretty special to sit alongside them.

Growing up in a small town, community was everything to me and I still have that strong sense of wanting to be part of and help my community, which is something I’m proud to be recognised for.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

The Surf Coast Shire community has the same sense of connection, care and community that was evident in my small rural town upbringing, which I love.

Community is something that I’m passionate about, it sets the foundation for most outcomes - safety, support, connection. I love going out and talking to and meeting people in our region face-to-face.

Kaylene's citation: Kaylene is the captain of the Winchelsea CFA Brigade. Kaylene is first female captain in the brigade’s history. Kaylene has strived to increase female participation in the brigade with terrific success, Kaylene is a leader in the organisation locally and very well respected in the region for her tireless work for the community. Kaylene devotes a huge amount of her personal time to ensuring the Winchelsea area and greater Surf Coast municipality has a reliable and dependable fire service. Kaylene is a volunteer, she does not get paid to do any of the work she does.

Kaylene responds to our questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements.

I guess my biggest achievement within the CFA is becoming the Winchelsea captain and the first female Winchelsea captain.

I believe when I was first elected as captain there were 1500 male captain and 50 female captains in Victoria.

I’ve been in the CFA for 10 years but I’ve been around CFA since I was 2, my dad John has been involved since then. My whole family is CFA actually, we’ve got three generations of members.

The volunteering is on a daily basis really as captain, you’ve got phone calls and emails and the general running of the brigade and then you’ve got your turnouts on top of that. It is quite busy. I couldn’t even begin to say how much time I put into CFA.

What motivates you?

Being in a position to help my community, now that my children are older.

I raised my children here in the community and they are still here in Winchelsea, and seeing what my dad got out of CFA I wanted that for myself.

Around the time I was elected captain he was diagnosed with stage four melanoma. Thankfully with good treatment he’s still with us although he’s not an active member any more, which I think is probably one of the hardest things he’s had to face after 45 years in active CFA roles.

But I know that he’s still there for me, no matter what.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

I just think it’s a step in the right direction for any person who volunteers, to know that we’re being recognised for the work that we do.

What do love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

I love the fact that when things do go wrong the community comes together – whether they are involved in any emergency services or not, especially for Winchelsea.

We just went through having local people lose their house to fire a couple of months ago and the community really stood up.

Unfortunately for us we know that Winchelsea may be under threat from fire one day and it’s good to know that the community is there ready to help if they need to.

David's citation: Dave Steele or ‘Steelo’ as he’s known on air has been a volunteer broadcaster at 94.7 The Pulse, community radio for the past nine years.
He has broadcast a range of programs and today you can tune in to Steeleworks every Saturday between noon and 4pm. His show reaches all the way to Apollo Bay and up to Werribee.
Dave plays a mix of 1960’s-80’s music with requests, dedications and always a theme suiting the time of year. In footy season Dave becomes the studio anchor for the outside broadcasts of the GDFNL match of the day. His experience is also called upon for outside broadcasts like Pako Festa and the G21 forum.

David responds to our questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements.

I have always had a passion for radio since I was a young boy living in Bendigo.

When I moved to Bacchus Marsh in 1984, I decide to join a Community Radio Station in Melton called 3RIM as there was not one in Bacchus Marsh. After a couple of years, I decided Bacchus Marsh needed a community radio station of its own and I established Apple 98.5FM as it is known today. 

When I moved to Torquay in 2013, I decided to join 94.7FM The Pulse Community Radio station in Geelong.

My most important achievements at The Pulse are being a team member for the annual Pako Festa, setting up and operating the audio equipment, panelling for the local Geelong and District Football League and providing a weekly music program on Saturdays called Steeleworksfm featuring music from the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

What motivates you?

My motivation is my passion for community radio and providing music to a local audience.  This also led into operating a mobile disco for many years in the Bacchus Marsh area.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

I feel very honoured to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend for an activity/interest that I love and have so much passion and dedication for, and that helps the local community.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

I love how welcoming and inclusive a community it is, the availability of services, beautiful natural environment, easy lifestyle, proximity to Geelong, and the beautiful beaches and attractions.

Cameron's citation: Every Christmas he collects letters to Santa from the Anglesea Primary School and also from a letterbox set up outside the Anglesea Post Office. He used to do it in Torquay for about a decade. He then answers them all individually and personally delivers them on his beautifully overly decorated ex-postie bike. With the help of either the local CFA or the local police, he delivers to the primary school with lots of ice on the bike, directly from the North Pole. He does this because he loves the smiles and excitement it brings to the kids.

Cameron responds to questions:

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements.

My greatest achievement is helping to raise community awareness through my work as a postie, with all the crazy designs that I created on my bike, to promote things like swimming between the flags, changing your smoke alarms and 40km/h school zones when school’s back. We were able to put those messages out in a fun way.

Four years ago, a friend who lives in Melbourne was talking to staff at a cafe about Christmas and the young waitress said she had the best Christmases growing up because her postie took the letters to Santa. My friend said ‘you must be from Torquay’ and they worked out that was me. She’s held onto that memory. To have that lasting impact on people is pretty awesome.

What motivates you?

It’s just fun, it’s something that we don’t do very often these days because everyone’s in a hurry. But posties have an incredible opportunity to stay in touch with the local community.

One kid used to wait for me every morning, then ride alongside me on his scooter and help me deliver the mail in his court.  Yes, it took a bit of extra time, but I just saw that as one of the wonders of the job.

You can do the bare minimum and get through the day, or you can make someone else’s day.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

I’m definitely chuffed and it’s quite humbling, but we don’t do it for recognition, we do it because we enjoy our community.  We’re not about the fuss – we’re just about helping others.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

It has that relaxed element.  There’s an air of ‘it’s ok if we can’t get it done today, there’s always tomorrow’. 

One of the nicest things about anywhere along the coast is that we don’t have that edge of the city – it’s just lovely. If there’s a five-minute wait for a table – it’s no stress.

It’s a welcoming environment, people have got time to have a chat and to learn something about the world.

Describe your involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements?

When I moved to Winchelsea in 2022 I knew from the get go that I wanted to be active in the community. I have tried to immerse myself in the town and all that is has to offer. I have grown to really value the variety of people and groups we have here.  

I am a people person. I really enjoy meeting all kinds of different people learning what they're passionate about. I enjoy trying to put people in touch with other like-minded people or groups who share ideas and interests.

I am one of a small handful of younger people to be part of Growing Winchelsea, where I am a part of several sub-committees.

A big part of what I do is talking and listening to members of our community, of all walks of life, about what they’re passionate about and what they want to see happening in our town. I try to take an active role in representing what people want and need to the appropriate committees or groups. If you listen and give people the chance to speak, it’s amazing what you can learn.

I feel like I’m a throughway for ideas. A lot of people my age or in my stage of life with young kids are commuting for work or have multiple children, so they don’t have time to go to community meetings or speak up for the things they really care about.

I’m really passionate about helping the people of our community to have a voice and be heard, and actively trying to make things happen for our community. I'm a busy mum of two young boys myself. I’m grateful I can work part time and still squeeze in time for community meetings and volunteer groups. On Sunday mornings I also volunteer at the Winchelsea Rescue Rangers Wildlife Shelter, which I really love.

I feel my greatest achievement is just being an ear to the community, listening and trying to create connections and make things happen. I’m certainly not the only one, but I think I’m one of the youngest, and newest to the community who is doing it.

My biggest focus right now is advocating for the sustainable growth of Winchelsea, incorporating all of the different voices from our community members, and our wildlife and natural areas.

What motivates you?

At my core, I am an amateur naturalist.

Moving to a smaller more rural town has been a goal of mine for years. I really value Winchelsea’s natural spaces and I am motivated to play an active part in improving and protecting them as our town continues to grow.

I’ve moved around a lot and lived in many different towns and suburbs, but moving to Winchelsea is the first time that I’ve felt like a real part of a community, not just living in a community. That sense of belonging is my biggest motivator.

What does it mean to you to be acknowledged as a Surf Coast Shire Local Legend?

It’s an honour to be acknowledged, but for me it’s highlighted just how many passionate people there are in Winchelsea that aren’t always acknowledged. I hope to in some way represent their hard work.

What do you love about our Surf Coast Shire community?

I have a background in natural resource management so I love our natural environment.

We have such a variety of beautiful natural areas here in the shire. I love the plants and wildlife. There’s a lot of beautiful, special places here that are important to me.

I also love the wonderful people and groups I’ve come to know and become a part of. For the most part, people on the Surf Coast are welcoming and kind.

The group's citation: Our group of adults with disability are dedicated volunteers at Freshwater Creek farm stay cottages, three days a week. They play a vital role in sorting food and delivering it to the farm animals, as well as topping up water and monitoring the animals’ wellbeing. Any concerns are promptly reported to Farmer Phil. Their positive energy, friendly smiles, and warm greetings bring joy to the farm, and they share a deep admiration for Farmer Phil, eagerly learning from him. They work co-operatively as a team, contributing to the farm's success with their enthusiasm, commitment, and care for the animals.

Spokesperson All Aboard CEO Kate Marshall responds to our questions:

Describe your group’s work and what you regard as your most important achievements:

The cottages are a farm stay, so they have paying guests who come and stay in the gorgeous cottages and have the farm experience.

Farmer Phil collects the discarded vegetables and fruits from the supermarket after Second Bite has made selections, and then our team members sort through it all and divide up the certain foods for certain animals on the farm.

They deliver it to the animals and the guests can feed the animals. The favourites at the moment are the goats, there are pigs and regularly piglets, cows, sheep, a kangaroo, chicken, ducks, geese – a lovely collection of beautiful animals.

I think the key for us is it is such an inclusive environment and our team members are doing something really purposeful.

It is hard work at times but the opportunities are to build teamwork and collaboration and there is a bit of autonomy too.

The farmers allocate tasks but our members seek their own tasks as well. They have a team leader role which rotates each week to give them leadership experience and the challenges that come with that.

They work hard and they have a lot of fun, and they love the animals and the outdoors. It’s a pretty spectacular place to spend their time and the farmers have been nothing but welcoming and inclusive.

Our team members are incredibly grateful for the opportunity and it’s like a little family out there.

How many people are involved and what does it mean to everyone to be acknowledged as Surf Coast Shire Local Legends?

There are six of our team on a Monday, then four on a Wednesday and 12 on a Friday.

We have waited until the big announcement to surprise them with their Local Legends award. They will be really proud, just delighted to be acknowledged for their consistent hard work.

We love the term Local Legends and they will love to see themselves as that, with immense pride and satisfaction.

What motivates the team?

They love working as a team and achieving, and getting through their tasks and they love being proud of their work.

They also love to please Farmer Phil, they really admire him and having his gratitude and acknowledgements is part of it.

Farmer Phil and Marisa own the property and have been generous enough to allow us to volunteer there for nearly eight years.

What would you say to people who might be considering contributing to a community group such as yours?

The rewards can be immeasurable really.

We love building community connections – absolutely love it.

Part of our mission is to showcase the value of every individual, so the more community connections we build the better we feel.

We work with a few different community organisations and would like to expand that as well, so always up for any involvement with people volunteering of getting involved in any way we can.

The group's citation: Sewing for a Purpose, was established by the Anglesea Community House three years ago. The Surf Coast CWA joined two years ago and it became a joint activity between the two groups.  
Since its inception volunteers have made over 3,000 items. They make regularly for Our Village, formerly Geelong Mums, and also make for Story Dogs, Anglesea Aged Care, the newly established Surf Coast Girl Guides, Surf Coast Wildlife Rescue, sanitary products for third world countries and others as requested.
There are eight regular stitchers participating.
Sewing machines and overlockers have been donated from grants from the Surf Coast Shire Council, Anglesea Community Bank and Surf Coast CWA for which we are very thankful.

Spokesperson Deb Elliot responds to our questions:

Describe your group’s work/involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements?

Sewing for a Purpose supports a number of different charities, including Our Village, formerly Geelong Mums, Story Dogs, Anglesea Aged Care, Surf Coast Girl Guides, Surf Coast Wildlife Rescue, sanitary products for third world countries and other items as requested.

Most fabric has been donated and I used to make the products. Have received grants that purchased sewing machines, overlockers and fabric and other materials as needed.

How many people are involved and what does it mean to everyone to be acknowledged as Surf Coast Shire Local Legends?

We regularly have eight people attending the weekly sessions, and it can be a different mix of eight people each week. The most number of attendees has been 15 people. One lady sews from home

The group has been sewing for 3 ½  years and is thrilled to be recognised for the Local Legends Award.

What motivates you?

Not only is it great to be able to sew and donate to those people and animals that are in need but there is a great sense of community, friendship and camaraderie within the group.  We also enjoy sharing skills including how to use the sewing machines and overlockers.

What would you say to people who might be considering contributing to a community group such as yours?

There is great value and joy in giving to others and especially those in need. And by joining groups like ours you make new friendships and gain new skills all while helping people who are not so fortunate. 

The group's citation: This group of ladies volunteer at various community groups such as Lorne Clean Up The Beach, Lorne Op Shop, Lorne Historical Society, Lorne Country Club  golf and tennis, and Lorne Bowls Club. They provide support to those organisations to raise a lot of funds for the community especially the Op Shop which donates funds into the hospital, surf club, emergency services etc. They give their time freely and enthusiastically to the Lorne community.

Those volunteers are: June Adams, Jenny Cerins, Marilyn MacKenzie, Karen Ridgeway, Clare Russell, Jan Spring, June Stafford, Valinda Gale-Peart, Suzanne Neill, Helen Worth, Jill Chapman.

Spokesperson Suzanne Neill responds to our questions:

Describe your group’s work/involvement and what you regard as your most important achievements?

This group of ladies volunteers at a number of different organisations, they are all involved in so much across the community. The Lorne community and organisations wouldn’t operate without this group of ladies doing what they do.

What is important to them is seeing the groups they are involved in and enjoy being part of, continuing to run smoothly for the community.

How many people are involved and what does it mean to everyone to be acknowledged as Surf Coast Shire Local Legends?

There are 11 ladies in the group.

None of them expect any recognition, this is an added bonus. This group doesn’t do what it does for recognition.

What motivates you?

Most of the ladies are involved in the groups they volunteer at, so if they play golf they volunteer at the Country Club. Their interests are what drives them to volunteer, to make sure the groups can continue operating and provide their services for the community.

What would you say to people who might be considering contributing to a community group such as yours?

Just do it and get involved, it is so rewarding. Everyone volunteers for different reasons, so everyone gets something different out of it. It’s a great way to meet local people. And often other friendships and groups pop up through volunteering. And the groups all help each other and help anyone in need.  

The group's citation: Aireys Inlet Rural Australians for Refugees (AIRAR) is a volunteer organisation based in Aireys Inlet. This group has been supporting refugees through activities such as making monthly donations to a food bank and running English language classes. AIRAR established a team led by local resident Jules Rolfe in 2022 called Bring Them Here as part of a government program. The team raised $30,000 to bring a UNHCR-nominated refugee family to Aireys Inlet and supported the family by organising accommodation, transport, English classes, employment and assisting them to settle into life in Aireys Inlet.

Spokesperson co-ordinator Celia Meehan responds to our questions:

Describe your group’s work and what you regard as your most important achievements.

The group is in its 11^th year and because there were no refugees on the Surf Coast, we’ve done a lot of our work during that time with refugees in Geelong. We still do English language classes every week on Mondays and Fridays – all run by volunteers.

The other thing was, we felt we wanted to contribute to the make-up of the community in Aireys Inlet in particular, so we set up a group called Bring Them Here. We raised money and then brought a family of refugees to Aireys Inlet, as part of the Australian Government’s Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP) program.

We have spent 12 months supporting that family, including getting  into schools, helping  find work, getting a car with the help of community donations. The local community has been absolutely remarkable.

The refugee family is now finished with the CRISP program officially, but we are still supporting them.

We also contribute to the food bank in Geelong for refugees. People do direct donations, and then once a month a team of our volunteers goes and buys the things the food bank requires, and then we deliver it to them.

We have a community awareness team that goes to the Aireys Inlet Market and does events around Aireys Inlet and Anglesea to raise money for the refugees, and also raises awareness around what the current situation is for refugees in Australia.

Because we’ve become well known, we now have people in the community offering to host events, which we manage, and then all of the money raised goes towards supporting refugees. It’s brought the community together so much – it’s been amazing.

How many people are involved and what does it mean to everyone to be acknowledged as Surf Coast Shire Local Legends?

We have a meeting of about 30 people once a month, and we have about 310 people on our mailing list.

For a small community to have achieved what we have, we are really punching above our weight, so to have that acknowledged is wonderful.

What motivates you?

Our motivation is the refugees, and the policies that are in and around Australia, and the refugees that are still in detention centres. It’s our feeling of the need for justice and human rights.

What would you say to people who might be considering contributing to a community group such as yours?

Do it! It is so rewarding and you get to understand and know your community, and feel like you really belong – which is lovely.