VOLUNTEERS NOMINATED: Keep Australia Beautiful Tidy Towns assessor Gary Howling (front) with Orange Tidy Towns committee member Fred Maw, Wayfinders Don Saville, Jim Heron and Gary Scovell and Tidy Towns committee members Wendy Fisher and Vanessa Willis. Photo: NADINE MORTON 0811nmwayfinder3
CULTURAL heritage, the wetlands and a volunteer program stood out as great examples of community participation according to the Tidy Towns assessor yesterday.
Keep Australia Beautiful Tidy Towns assessor Gary Howling was here for a two-day tour to evaluate Orange’s seven entries in this year’s Keep Australia Beautiful NSW Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities 2012 awards.
Mr Howling met with volunteers from Orange hospital’s Wayfinders program yesterday. The program has been nominated for the Bush Spirit Award.
Mr Howling said he was impressed with the concept after meeting three of the volunteers.
“It’s a great set-up and a unique idea,” he said.
Wayfinders chief co-ordinator Gary Scovell explained to Mr Howling how the program, which has 80 volunteers, assisted visitors to the hospital.
“There’s four kilometres of corridors in this hospital,” he said.
Mr Scovell explained how volunteers were on duty from 8.30am to 5.30pm seven days a week to direct visitors through the expansive health complex.
The program began in April 2011 and since then has provided a meet-and-greet service for around 40,000 people.
Mr Scovell said it was wonderful to be nominated for the award.
“It’s a fabulous acknowledgement of a volunteer group that gets together to service the community and out-of-town visitors,” he said.
Mr Howling said other highlights of Orange’s Tidy Towns nominations included the Aboriginal scar tree relocation project and the city’s constructed wetlands.
He said nominations would be assessed on their planning, clarity of objective, collaboration with the wider community, how they are promoted and their sustainability into the future.
Winners of this year’s Tidy Towns awards will be announced on Saturday November 3.
nadine.morton@ruralpress.com