Centralians recognised at Alice Springs Town Council’s Citizenship Awards celebrations

A group of inspiring Centralians were recognised for their contributions to the Alice Springs community as part of Alice Springs Town Council’s Australia Day celebrations.

A GROUP of inspiring Centralians were recognised for their contributions to the Alice Springs community and new citizens from around the world were welcomed as part of Alice Springs Town Council’s Australia Day celebrations on Wednesday.

A total of 108 new Australians received citizenship from a diverse range of countries including Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, Sudan, The Philippines, Germany, France, New Zealand, India, Cambodia, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Canada, Nigeria, Nepal, Tonga, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan, Cuba, Mexico, Fiji, Italy, the United States of America and Russia.

Following the citizenship ceremony, the 2022 Centralian Citizenship Award winners were announced.

2022 Centralian Citizenship Awards recipients

• Centralian Volunteer of the Year – Steve Rogers

• Centralian Senior Citizen of the Year – Margaret Borger

• Centralian Event of the Year – Mother’s Day Classic Alice Springs Fun Run and Walk

• Centralian Young Citizen of the Year – Jessie Woolford

• Centralian Citizen of the Year – Virginia Loy

“We are lucky to have so many amazing influences in the Alice Springs community and Australia Day gives us the opportunity to recognise a handful of these local heroes,” Mayor Matt Paterson said.

“I want to congratulate everyone that has won an award, as well as everyone that was nominated. These individuals have truly made an outstanding contribution to their community and have helped to make Alice Springs a better place.”

Centralian Citizen of the Year – Virginia Loy

Born on the 26th of January 1954, Virginia Loy has made Alice Springs home, married to Michael Loy (deceased), raising her family and working at the Alice Springs Hospital as Chief Radiographer until her recent retirement.

Virginia was rated in the top 3 per cent in the world in her vocation, but chose to stay and make Alice Springs her home. She lobbied strongly and was instrumental in getting the MRI machine to the Alice Springs Hospital.

Since retirement, Virginia has dedicated herself selflessly to volunteering her time to community groups and supporting the elderly and vulnerable.

Young Centralian Citizen of the Year – Jessie Woolford

CAFLNT Head Boundary Umpire and Umpire Coordinator, Jessie Woolford, 17, facilitated and lead the first ever all female umpiring squad in the NT who stuck together for the duration of the season, made news headlines and umpired the AFLNT Women’s Grand Final for the 2021 Season.

Jessie had just recently taken over managing all 40+ CAFLNT Umpires, was finishing year 12 and had a part time job.

Community Event of the Year – Mother’s Day Classic 2021 Alice Springs Fun Run and Walk

In 2022, Mother’s Day Classic (MDC) celebrate their 25th Anniversary as the largest fun run and walk (100,000 registrations in over 100 locations across Australia every Mother’s Day) raising awareness and funds for life saving breast cancer research.

Mother’s Day Classic is an inspiring, community driven tradition for thousands of Australian families who want to show support for a cause that affects so many.

Centralian Senior Citizen of the Year – Margaret Borger

Margaret came to the Northern Territory in 1964 as a nurse. She worked in Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy before moving to Alice Springs, with her husband and young family.

Margaret supported her children and the activities they were involved in during these years. Girl Guides, Scouts and Rugby were among those to benefit from her support.

Margaret was involved with Community Health Nursing and a highlight of these years was lobbying for and being successful in obtaining funding to build the Santa Teresa Women’s Centre.

She identified the need, and benefits by providing Aboriginal Women with this type of community facility.

Her retirement years have seen her involved with National Seniors, the over 50s group, community radio and U3A and Holyoake to name just a few.