THREE local legends were recognised for their achievements and community spirit at Coffs Harbour’s annual Australia Day Awards 2023 celebrations on Thursday 26 January at the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden.

Citizen of the Year is Helen Mears, a volunteer Pink Lady at Coffs Harbour Health Campus for 40 years.

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The Mayor’s Community Spirit Award winner is Ian ‘Éno’ Taylor, an ambassador for Lifeline suicide prevention with a special focus on truck drivers’ mental health.

The winner of the Sport and Recreation Award is Ryan Gilchrist, a Coffs Harbour mountain bike racer who has exceptional achievements in mountain biking – see NOTA sports pages for a profile on Ryan.

Speaking at the event, Mayor Paul Amos said, “I view a nomination for an Australia Day Award as a huge accolade.
“All nominees are tremendous ‘true blue’ role models who set the standard that the rest of us aspire to.

“It is an honour to congratulate all the award nominees – those absolute heroes who do so much for our community – and who were nominated by their peers for an Australia Day Award.

“No award nominee is the kind of person to big-note themselves, so it’s great to see them getting the kind of recognition they really deserve,” said Mayor Amos.

Citizen of the Year Helen Mears also addressed the applauding crowd.

“Thank you, this is just amazing, I appreciate it,” she said.

“If there’s anybody out there wishing to volunteer, Pink Ladies will welcome you.”

The Pink Ladies are the powerhouse volunteer group officially known as the United Hospital Auxiliaries (UHA).

The group keep the Health Campus cafes running smoothly and fund hospital equipment through their work.

Helen has been President of the Coffs UHA Pink Ladies for over 30 years.

In December last year, Helen’s outstanding service to the community was recognised when she was named the NSW 2021 joint Senior Volunteer of the Year in the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards.

The Mayor’s Community Spirit Award winner, Ian Taylor, a Lifeline North Coast Ambassador volunteer and fund-raiser, has made a huge impact in the past year by hosting two truck convoys to raise awareness of male mental health and suicide.

“I’m so blessed to be part of Lifeline,” Ian told News Of The Area.

“It makes my job as a volunteer so enjoyable when we’ve got such a great organisation behind us.”

We can expect to see more of Ian’s philanthropic work in 2023.

“What I’ve been doing over the past eighteen months to support truck drivers with their mental health is definitely going to take me into the future,” he said.

Ian also helps with the local Suicide Prevention Day Walk, gives talks at men’s groups and is a coach and mentor for an under 15s AFL team that supports boys from one-parent families who need male guidance.

Sport and Recreation Award winner Ryan Gilchrist spent many months overseas in 2022 competing in the mountain bike Enduro World Series against the best in the world, while simultaneously keeping up with his university engineering studies remotely.

Ryan had outstanding results over the series, finishing fifth overall, which was particularly notable as he didn’t have the support of a professional team behind him unlike his competitors.

On his return, he competed in the Gravity Enduro Nationals, becoming the 2022 Australian Champion.

Ryan, who was Captain of Toormina High School, is considered a hero and mentor to local aspiring mountain bike riders and he regularly runs volunteer coaching sessions with youth keen to meet and ride with him.

By Andrea FERRARI