AN AWARDS ceremony honouring seniors and organisations that work with them was a highlight of ACT Seniors Week from March 18-26.
Bob Hay, who has been running courses on a diverse range of topics for U3A for 12 years, received the Senior Volunteer award at the COTA ACT Positive Ageing Awards.
Bob has led a total of 35 courses for U3A and makes much of his course material available to other members of the community online.
Other finalists were Estelle Barnes, Denise Mott and Brian Triglone.
Intergenerational awards went to Mirinjani Hostel, which organises a wide variety of events during the year to provide entertainment and stimulation for residents, and Hamish Balfour, a long-standing volunteer for the YMCA of Canberra Sailing Club and the ACT sailing community.
Finalists were Leslie Morshead Manor (Caroline Simmonds) and Chandani Ramasundara.
The Age Friendly Community award went to St John Ambulance Australia (ACT) for its Project Resilience, which aims to increase community resilience through first aid knowledge and increased confidence to act in first aid situations by seniors.
The other finalist in this category was Mirinjani Hostel.
The Senior Advocacy award went to Diane Percy, who has worked to improve the physical activity levels and general health of seniors in the ACT for 10 years. She has also been involved with the Heart Foundation as Heartmoves and walking co-ordinator since 2009.
Finalists were ACT Disability Aged Care Advocacy Service and Suzanne Eastwood.
The Woden Community Services transport team took out the Transport Services award, while Betty Simmonds, who promotes the Flexible Bus service, was a finalist.
ACT seniors were treated to entertainment and information galore during the Seniors Week celebrations.
The Chief Minister's Concert was a highlight, as was The Senior Seniors Week Expo, which featured entertainment, presentations and information displays on a range of topics, from finance and health to travel and accommodation.
