York Celebrates Australia Day

The Shire of York marked Australia Day 2025 with a fantastic day of free community events on Sunday, 26 January!

The celebrations kicked off with a BBQ breakfast, followed by the Citizen Awards Ceremony, officially opened by the Shire President.

Congratulations to this year’s award recipients:

Senior Citizen of the Year – Helen Grainger

Citizen of the Year – Monique Hutchinson (accepted by Val Menezes as Monique was unable to attend due to community commitments)

Active Community Group or Event of the Year – Healthy Self Wellness York (HSWY)

The York Swimming Pool was buzzing all day with free entry, fun activities, and a sausage sizzle, wrapping up with an evening screening of Runt under the stars.

The Ballardong First! three-day event (January 25–27) was also a great success, bringing the community together to celebrate culture, connection, and history.

Sports Star of the Year Awards – Each year, York recognises outstanding athletes with the Junior and Senior Sports Star of the Year Awards, held alongside the Citizen of the Year Awards. Unfortunately, no nominations were received from the community this year, so the awards could not be presented. If you know a deserving athlete, consider nominating them next year to celebrate their achievements!

Check out the pictures from the event below!

A huge thank you to everyone who joined in to make the day so special! #YorkWA

Top: Senior Citizen of the Year – Helen
Grainger

Middle: Citizen of the Year – Monique Hutchinson (accepted by Val Menezes as Monique was unable to attend due to
community commitments)

Bottom: Active Community Group or Event of the Year – Healthy Self Wellness York (HSWY)

Additional information on this years winners can be found below.

Community Group or Event (Active Citizenship)

 Two nominations for the Active Citizenship category were received this year, the Healthy Self Wellness York and York Blue Light WA Unit.

Healthy Self Wellness York has strived for community engagement from the beginning and has achieved significant goals in a short time. These include hosting wellness events, welcoming drop-in days, free or affordable food supplies, clothing, shoes and toys in their op shop, community outreach and more. The upcoming community garden project is set to further enhance their positive impact on the community and surrounding areas. An outstanding effort overall.

Senior Citizen of the Year – Senior (65 years or over)

Two nominations for the Senior Citizen of the Year category were received this year, Helen Grainger and Charles (Ross) Heasman.

The winner of the Senior Citizen of the Year is Helen Grainger.

Helen works tirelessly to be the secretary for the CWA York branch. She organizes activities, is always the first one to put her hand up to do whatever is needed. Helen is remarkable at enhancing the little garden at the back of the CWA rooms. Helen is secretary at the Womens Hub, she is always helping anyone that needs it and makes sure the garden is watered and anything else that she can do for the ladies of the Hub. She is also secretary of the Probus group and helps out at YDHS breakfast club, ensuring kids have a healthy breakfast.

 

Citizen of the Year

 Two nominations for the Citizen of the Year category were received this year, Monique Hutchinson, and Jamie Godin.

Monique is co-founder of Healthy Self Wellness. She has worked tirelessly to provide low cost/free food by partnering with foodbank, a low-cost op shop and a safe space for people to socialise. Monique drives to and from Perth to bring the food items back to York offering cheap healthy options to the community. Monique is also an advocate for mental health and offers support and inclusion. She does all this while working elsewhere and having her own family.