Foundation Patron and Former Director is the Bass Coast Citizen of Year 2022

The Board of the Bass Coast Community Foundation is thrilled that Patron Carol Blair, has been awarded 2022 Bass Coast Citizen of the Year for her leadership and volunteer work in the Bass Coast community.

Board member Nina Barry MacAulay, said the Foundation has been the beneficiary of many hours of volunteer work Carol has committed to delivering and growing its work. Carol has been a Board Director for six years, Chair for two years, and is the Foundation’s current Patron.

“Carol is an incredibly humble and generous person. She is driven by her passion to make a difference and to contribute to her community. It’s difficult to quantify the value Carol provides, however its fantastic this award goes some way to recognising the critical role she plays in the community,” Nina said.

Following her successful teaching career and being on countless school and community committees, she has held senior manager roles in children, youth and community services for over 25 years within both State and Local Government.

Carol is actively involved in the Foundation’s Women for Change working group, and she is passionate about continuing to advocate for and raise awareness of gender inequality women and girls face in our community.

“I am so heartened by the depth of strong female leadership in Bass Coast now, which is very different to how it used to be in our region. However, there’s still a long way to go to truly tackle deeply engrained gender inequality,” Carol said.

“For example, Bass Coast has rates much higher than the state average for teenage pregnancy and family violence. Local women are retiring with far less superannuation than men – so combined with an increasingly unaffordable housing market, this means many are forced to leave their community, their networks and their social security for affordable housing,” she said.

“I am humbled by this award and grateful that it provides me an opportunity to highlight the hundreds of worthy volunteers in Bass Coast who deserve equal recognition,” said Carol.

Recent community volunteer work Carol has undertaken include:

• Board member, Central Gippsland TAFE College                                                2 years
• Community Member, Child Death Inquiries Panel DHS                                    3 years
• President, Bass Coast Community Health Service Committee                          8 years
• Committee member Gippsland Community Leadership program                    3 years
• Chairperson, Creatively Connecting Communities Bass Coast                          4 years
• President, San Remo Foreshore Committee        5 years
• Co Facilitator San Remo oral history project      6 months
• Director Bass Coast Community Foundation     6 years