Aaron McAlister and Calum Dickson are finalists in the Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Awards. 67513 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Vanessa Chircop
THE finalists for this year’s Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria awards for Sustainable Cities and Clean Beaches have been announced with several members and organisations in the Hobsons Bay community being recognised.
Among the finalists were Williamstown lifeguards, Calum Dickson and Aaron McAlister.
The duo were nominated in the Young Leader category for their work keeping Williamstown beach safe and training the young Nippers.
Aaron said the nomination and being named a finalist was very unexpected.
“When we got the email we were quite happy but didn’t actually expect it,” he said.
The 20-year-old said teaching young kids about being safe in the water was something he was passionate about.
“At the end of the day a lot of the stuff they learn out of it – they should be confident and if they go to the beach, not get in trouble and if they do get into trouble they should know what to do,” he said.
“It’s something they’ll hold onto hopefully forever.”
CEO of Sustainability Victoria, Anita Roper, praised this year’s finalists for demonstrating a range of innovative, sustainable and community-based initiatives to make their local environment a better place to live, work and play.
“The KABV Sustainable Cities and Clean Beaches Awards are an effective and positive way to reward and promote sustainability initiatives driven by Victoria’s unique beach and city communities,” Ms Roper said.
Kororoit Creek Nature Reserve – Friends of Lower Kororoit Creek were also finalists for their work in protecting the environment and Seaholme Sustainability Street were named finalists in the Community Leadership category.
