The Bryan Watson Award, named after a Wodonga Rotarian of 50 years, went to another Rotary Club of Belvoir Wodonga member, Trevor Pearce.

Over four years, he oversaw the building of the Life Skills house at Belvoir Special School.

Mr Pearce accepted his award in a ceremony on Wednesday night broadcast on Facebook.

"It basically started as an idea where one of the staff at the school spoke to her Dad about this pipe-dream they had to build a house," he said.

"Her Dad happened to be a Rotarian ... (he) took it to our club."

Mr Pearce donated his $1000 prize to FoodShare.

Anton Maas accepted the award for the Wodonga Heart Football Club.

Mr Maas has been with the club for five years and is mainly involved in the junior soccer.

"It's really nice to be rewarded for something we love to do," he said.

"We had a group of kids that wanted to play football a couple of years ago and we saw there was some talent there, so we all jumped on the bandwagon.

"I have a football background so I put my hand up to the coach.

"All the parents are on board and help each other if one person can't make it - we have a few single mums we help with transport.

"We try to make them better players but also better people."

Mr Maas said there were players from multicultural backgrounds that the club supported.

"It's a good way to integrate into society; I have a humanitarian background and I've worked in refugee camps so I know where they came from and how tough it is over there so we try to help them integrate," he said.

This award is given to an individual or team that makes a meaningful difference across Albury and Wodonga and was presented by both Cr Poulton and Albury Mayor Kevin Mack.

It was awarded for the first time last year, and Albury Women's Shed treasurer Erika Ross nominated Julie Parsons for the 2021 accolade.

She started volunteering when the shed was in their temporary home at Smollett Street, and nine months later they moved to co-locate with the Thurgoona Men's Shed.

"We share facilities with the Men's Shed," Ms Parsons said.

"We have more than 50 members at the moment, and one of them is from Rutherglen.

"We closed for a few months, and when we opened it was only Albury members that could come along because the border was closed.

"I was allowed over the second time, because my volunteer work was considered my work, but it was hard.

"You're not a health worker, so you're not essential, but a lot of the women really look forward to going there.

"We had one member who lost her husband tragically at the beginning of the year - she is among those who really look forward to coming."

Ms Ross said many members come for the social connection.

"It's a really great facility, and for some women that come along, they've never even picked up like a hammer or screwdriver," she said.

"It builds their confidence."

Grace King was recognised for her efforts in volunteering in both communities, and for her advocacy which the award is tailored to.

The StreetJam and Wodonga Council youth committee member, Lake Hume Coastguard volunteer is only 20.

"I volunteer as much as I can to try and make a difference ... I've learned so many new skills," she said.

"I started volunteering with Vinnies in Wodonga, I was doing homework tutoring for young refugee students and now I do Salvos, coastguard and Wodonga Council events."

Cr Poulton said Ms King was inspirational.

"She's got such a vast offering in what she does and it's not just the one city she volunteers for," he said.

Cr Poulton said the joint awards recognised the cross-border contributions of groups.

"We should really be encouraging volunteers; we're seeing after COVID, particularly those at risk aren't necessarily returning to the volunteer work," he said.

"We need to make sure the younger ones that probably be more tech savvy and can maybe find efficiencies in their volunteering, come forward and help some of those causes."