Wednesday May 11, saw a large and rather noisy crowd gather in the Hyatt Regency ballroom for the presentation of this year’s Volunteer of the Year Awards.

Read Write Now nominated long-time tutor Hank Koster for the Lifetime Contribution to Volunteering Award and we were thrilled when he was announced as the winner!

Hank has been with this Program since 2000 but the award encompassed an extraordinary 54 years of his volunteering in the community. He was originally a part of our Albany group, stepping forward to assist a group of Afghan refugees who were located in the area but when they became permanent residents and moved to Perth for job opportunities, Hank realised that if he was to continue his work with them he would have to move as well. It was a tremendous acknowledgement of a really dedicated and generous man.

Also on the night, RWN Region Coordinator Greg Elliott was nominated by another provider Centacare where he also volunteers his time working with migrants. It was a great moment when Greg was announced a winner for that category, Western Australian Volunteer Award for Ethnic Communities.

Congratulations Hank and Greg, both pictured here with Read Write Now Manager, Marcia Barclay.