Canterbury Bankstown councillor receives Premier’s award for multicultural work
Councillor Bilal El-Hayek loves helping people and his dedication to the region’s multicultural communities has seen him recognised with a Premier’s award.
The Express
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Express. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A CANTERBURY Bankstown councillor has been recognised for his work in multicultural communities with the Premier’s Harmony medal.
Cr Bilal El-Hayek was awarded the Stepan Kerkyasharian AO Medal by Premier Gladys Berejiklian at the Harmony Dinner last week.
He was recognised for his contribution to promoting social cohesion, understanding and acceptance of different cultures and faiths in communities.
“I was very honoured, humbled and proud to be recognised for the work that we do,” he said.
“We have an amazing team that we do so much together, not only at PCYC Bankstown, but the wider community.
“I love helping people,” Cr El-Hayek said.
“I work very closely with Campsie police, the Canterbury Bulldogs, GWS Giants, Lighthouse Community Support, with a core group of people who are just amazing.”
Cr El-Hayek has been working in the community for more than 10 years, with the last five with PCYC Bankstown.
He said he was lucky to have management who promoted community engagement and gave him space to work externally with a range of projects, including Harmony Day, school programs, family fun days, the Walk for Respect, and the White Ribbon March.
“I love helping people,” he said. “There’s nothing more rewarding than receiving a phone call or looking someone in the eye and they say ‘thank you, you’ve changed my life’.
“Helping people gives you internal satisfaction.”
Cr El-Hayek has had many moments that remind him why he does his work.
“On a PCYC level, I remember a couple of years ago we had a student from Punchbowl Boys High School who was off the rails a bit,” he said.
“We were able to mentor him and work with him until he became the school captain.
“A couple of years ago we had the Blue Crescent program and had 20 young boys from the local school that did the program over 18 months. Last week I attended an achievement award dinner for Year 12 and five of those boys got an ATAR over 90 and one over 99.”
Cr El-Hayek said the only thing they ask of people they help in the community is that they put back into the community in the future.