Entries for this year’s Sustainable Communities – Tidy Town Awards are now open.
The awards are aimed towards the individuals, community groups, educational institutions, businesses and councils whose actions and initiatives have helped improve, empower and build resilience in their communities.
A Keep Victoria Beautiful initiative, the awards have been going since 1983.
Over the years the awards have gradually moved beyond simply rewarding towns for their tidiness.
Instead they are now focussed on recognising and celebrating grassroots initiatives and positive actions taken by communities and individuals.
Keep Victoria Beautiful Tidy Town spokesperson Dick Gross said it is these initiatives and actions that foster a strong sense of community and help safeguard the environment.
“Ultimately strong communities are the lifeblood of our rural and regional towns and critical to their long-term sustainability,” he said.
Winning entries from previous years have ranged from the creation of a pre-school children’s garden, the repair and alteration of donated school uniforms which have helped hundreds of families clothe their children, to the successful treatment of wastewater from milk tanks and storage silos.
The categories for this year’s Sustainable Communities – Tidy Town Awards include education, energy, litter, waste, environment, Indigenous culture, heritage and culture, community, social wellbeing and young legends.
There is also the opportunity for towns to win the overall Sustainable Community of the Year award and for individuals to win the Dame Phyllis Frost award.
In addition, a $1000 grant will go to a promising new project which is regarded worthy of supporting and getting off the ground.
To enter this year’s Sustainable Communities – Tidy Town Awards, visit awardsonline.net.au/2020/tidytowns.
Entries close on 1 May.
The winners of the awards will be announced at a gala event in Beechworth on 6 September.
