We are excited to announce John Bigmore from Wesley Mission Queensland – Hummingbird House as your 2023 Westfield Local Hero for Chermside!

Westfield is proud to award a community grant of $20K to help John and Wesley Mission Queensland – Hummingbird House to continue to grow their impact in the local community

The 2023 Westfield Local Heroes program will award 126 grants across Australia and New Zealand – totalling $1.26 million to support local communities.

Nominations for the 2024 Westfield Local Heroes program are open now. If you know someone who's making an impact, nominate them as a Westfield Local Hero - nominate here.

Your 2023 Westfield Chermside Local Hero is:

John Bigmore

Wesley Mission Queensland – Hummingbird House

Compassionate. altruistic. inclusive.

John (Grumpy) Bigmore spends many volunteer hours maintaining peaceful gardens for families of children with a life-limiting condition.

Grumpy, as John is fondly known, is an experienced and talented landscape gardener. He offered his services to Hummingbird House Children’s Hospice. to give back for the wonderful care his granddaughter Kyleesha received there before she passed away.

Despite his nickname, John is anything but grumpy. He is kind, caring and selfless and does whatever it takes to help make Hummingbird House a place of comfort. He even uses his annual leave to volunteer.

Grumpy’s contribution goes far beyond gardening. He is often seen having a calming cup of tea with family members, offering a listening ear and sharing his own experience.

Grumpy is grateful for the care and support Hummingbird House gave his family during a difficult time and sees his volunteering as a way for the hospice to save money that can be better used supporting children and their families.

Grumpy likes to fly under the radar and was surprised to be nominated as a Westfield Local Hero. “My work provides a space families can enjoy and find some peace. I get satisfaction from giving back to the community.”

Hummingbird House Children’s Hospice will be able to invest in much-needed additional nursing services.

We'd like to thank and acknowledge our finalists who will receive a $5K grant for the organisation they represent...

Inspirational Guy Mauger is a super volunteer for Guide Dogs Queensland, opening his home to dozens of dogs, raising funds and providing transport to vision-impaired adults and children during their training. Recently, Guy has played a significant role in a pilot project to support children giving evidence in court.

Olive Volavola from Compassion 4 Community

Caring Olive Volavola is the founder of Compassion 4 Community, which prepares hundreds of healthy meals for people in need. The volunteer-run charity operates in Nundah three days a week. There’s food and companionship for everyone and Olive makes time to offer guests a friendly hug or to have a chat.

If you need support, please phone Lifeline: 13 11 14

Recognising all our 2023 nominees

View all of the Westfield Chermside nominees and their organisations.