We are excited to announce your three 2020 successful Westfield Local Heroes for Albany.

These inspiring local leaders were nominated and voted for by the community and will now be awarded a $10,000 grant for each of their affiliated organisations to help their important work to grow.

Westfield Local Heroes is a community recognition and grants program, connecting and enriching local communities. Launched in 2018, the program spans our 42 trade areas across Australia and New Zealand. In 2020, we are awarding $1.26 million to 126 local organisations.

For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here.

Your three Westfield Albany Local Heroes are:

Holly Simpson

Youthline Auckland Charitable Trust
Resilient. Empathetic. Compassionate

As a teenage mum, Holly Simpson found herself feeling stuck and unsure around her purpose as she navigated this new chapter of her life. This changed suddenly, after receiving a call from Youthline offering her support, Youthline is an organisation that supports young people and empowers them to reach their full potential. After studying, she started working for Youthline and feels privileged to use her experience to help other young people and share her story to inspire hope.

__Find out more > __

Louise Burnie-Allnutt

Foster Hope Charitable Trust
Thoughtful. Committed. Caring

Louise Burnie-Allnutt brings joy and comfort to children entering foster care each year. She founded the Foster Hope Charitable Trust to provide children with a backpack full of essentials that give a little bit of light and excitement at an extremely traumatic time. Louise makes sure they have items such as underwear, a soft toy, a book and, in some cases, a quilt to help ease the transition into care. "Something as simple as a backpack, can have a profound impact on a child when they find out that it's been made for them by a complete stranger," Louise says.

__Find out more > __

Makerita Siaosi

A Girl Called Hope
Empowering. Passionate. Dedicated

Armed with specialist post-graduate studies in Family Therapy, a hearty laugh and a steadfast belief in people's potential, Makerita Siaosi is the ideal person to help young women through times of crisis. Makerita is the Programme Manager at A Girl Called Hope and offers the residents in her care a safe place that respects each person as an individual and helps them make wise choices. A reward for Makerita is to see past clients enjoying life. "Seeing changed lives and people living with purpose helps me know I'm doing my bit for our community and gives me my sense of purpose," Makerita says.

__Find out more > __

We congratulate all of our finalists and nominees and recognise the important contribution they make to the local community.

View all of the finalists, nominees and their organisations

If you need support, please phone Lifeline: 0800 LIFELINE (0800 543 354)

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