Known as a vibrant and busy woman with the community at heart, Trish Mears has been named Citizen of the Year in the Bundaberg Region’s 2023 Australia Day Awards.
Wearing many hats in the Bundaberg Region, Trish has a strong belief in the sense of community.
Trish said she was surprised and honoured to be named Bundaberg’s Citizen of the Year for 2023 at the annual awards ceremony held at the Bundaberg Multiplex last week.
“Community is everything,” she said.
“It is a big surprise and a very great honour – I am blown away actually.”
Trish said she witnessed the strength in community a decade ago when the Bundaberg Region was affected by flood.
“That is when community really came together,” she said.
“If you were even in any doubt of the resilience and the community-mindedness of people in the Bundaberg Region that really proved it.
“Without community we are just a whole bunch of people doing our own thing, but as a community we can do so much more together.”
Trish has been on several committees and foundations, all serving to benefit the community.
“These are all things that I am passionate about, and I think the only way you can really make a difference is by being involved,” Trish said.
She is currently a member and secretary to Bundaberg Players Incorporated, chair of the Moore Park Beach Arts Festival and co-chair of Relay for Life, raising money for Queensland Cancer Council.
Being heavily involved in the local community over the years, Trish said there had been a number of highlights.
“Bundaberg Players, last year there was Priscilla that we put on at the Moncrieff – it was just amazing and to be involved in something like that was incredible,” she said.
“Moore Park Beach Arts Inc the festival last year and the Christmas event were just so big, and just having our committee who is so hardworking where everyone does there own thing but really goes towards the whole and I think that is truly amazing.
“Of course, Relay for Life I think we raised $91,000 so that was a huge thing too.”
Trish has also held a number of roles with the Bundaberg and District Chamber of Commerce, she is a board member of the Bundaberg Health Services Foundation and has an active role on the Rural Clinic School’s Community Engagement committee.
To top it all off, Trish’s fundraising efforts are second to none, recently working tirelessly on the successful Sleepbus Campaign.
The Bundaberg Regional Council-run awards recognise actions and abilities of groups and individuals that have enhanced the social connectivity of the community through personal contribution or through an event that has added value and enjoyment to the lives of others.
