A dedicated historical society member and a LGBTI advocate have been named as Wodonga’s Australia Day award winners for 2018.
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Uta Wiltshire was chosen as the Wodonga citizen of the year for her commitment and knowledge of the city and dedication to the community.
She is an active Wodonga Show Society committee member, Wodonga Council Place Names committee member, has been involved with Neighbourhood Watch, and has been Wodonga Historical Society secretary and treasurer for more than a decade.
“I see work that needs to be done and I enjoy doing it,” Mrs Wiltshire said.
“We moved a lot as a family with my husband in the army, so now by digging up the history it makes me feel like Wodonga is my town.”
Sheridan Williams has been named as the young citizen of the year for her work with the LGBTI community, including starting up the Alphabet Crews Youth Group - a social group for LGBTI children aged 12 to 17 years old.
She said she joined the Youth Action Group because she felt it was important to change community attitudes towards LGBTI people and to be the positive role model young people, which she wished she had had growing up.
Being a public advocate for LGBTI rights leaves Ms Williams vulnerable to the homophobia, but she continues to speak out and has participated in Youth Affairs Council of Victoria regional consultations and local LGBTI community meetings to provide a youth perspective.
The Border Ovarian Cancer Awareness Group has also been named the community organisation of the year.
The group is a non-profit organisation dedicated to raising awareness of this cancer, assisting women to recognise the symptoms and supporting those fighting the disease.
The Border Ovarian Cancer Awareness Group is committed to raising funds through donation and sponsorship collection to offer community education and disease prevention of ovarian cancer.
It formed in 2012 after the passing of Kelsey Watts from ovarian cancer.
Her mother Heather, president of the group, was heartbroken but decided that she did not want her daughter’s death to be in vain and the group has raised more than $200,000 since its inception.