Nominations for Honour Awards now open
NOMINATIONS for the annual Honour Awards are now open and members of the public are encouraged to nominate NSW LGBTI community members they admire or who they think are unsung heros.
Now in their eighth year, the Honour Awards are an annual gala fundraising event to be held at Sydney’s Ivy Ballroom for LGBTI community initiatives supported by leading community charity the Aurora Group, and by ACON, NSW’s leading HIV and LGBTI health organisation.
Nominations can be submitted in seven categories covering the business, health, education, community, legal, political, media and cultural sectors. Nominations are free and can be submitted on the Honour Awards website (see details below).
Winners receive a range of gifts, and all 28 finalists – as well as the people who nominate them – receive a free ticket to the gala event.
For the first time, this year’s awards will also include the Cayte Latta Memorial Award for Visual Arts with a $1000 prize made possible by an endowment from the Friends of Cayte.
Aurora Chair Adam Niewand says the Honour Awards provide a valuable opportunity to pay tribute to people and organisations that are making a difference in the lives of LGBTI people in NSW.
“The Honour Awards are all about celebrating how people from all walks of life are helping or inspiring others in our community,” he says.
“So we’re inviting community members to nominate people or organisations they feel have provided leadership or achieved outstanding success within the LGBTI community or have provided excellent service or made a significant contribution to the LGBTI community.”
ACON president Mark Orr says the awards are about recognising and celebrating all kinds of achievements and contributions.
“Every day, people and organisations from right across our community are helping others in all kinds of ways, and the Honour Awards is about acknowledging all kinds of community service, whether big or small,” he says.
“As a community, it’s important that we celebrate our unsung heroes as well as our more high profile achievers, so we’re keen to hear about people and organisations who have made a difference in the lives of only a few people as well those whose contributions are more wide-ranging. They can be people or organisations who directly help others, whose work is improving the wellbeing of our community, or whose achievements are inspiring people in our community.”
(Main image: Arab Council Australia notched the Health and Wellbeing Award in 2013 for its dedicated and significant efforts in addressing the health issues, safety and acceptance of LGBTI people from Arabic-speaking communities. Photo: Ann-Marie Calilhanna)
DETAILS
WHAT: Honour Awards 2014 – Ceremony and Cocktail Party
WHERE: They Ivy Ballroom, 330 George St, Sydney
WHEN: Wednesday, September 17
TIME: 6.30pm-11pm
COST: $85 per person (inc. wines and beers, canapés and entertainment)
INFO + TICKETS: www.honourawards.com.au
