Announcing your 2023 Westfield Local Hero

We are excited to announce Gwen Clough from Palliative Care South East as your 2023 Westfield Local Hero for Fountain Gate!

Westfield is proud to award a community grant of $20K to help Gwen Clough and Palliative Care South East 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 Fountain Gate Local Hero is:

Gwen Clough

Palliative Care South East

Compassionate. Dedicated. Warm-hearted.

Gwen Clough has dedicated the past 20 years to supporting terminally ill people and their families.

Gwen is a volunteer companion at Palliative Care South East, which gives healthcare and emotional support to more than 1600 people a year.

Nothing is too much trouble for Gwen if she can ease someone’s loneliness, comfort their pain or help them squeeze the most life out of the time they have left.

As part of the home-based palliative care service, Gwen encourages people to continue doing things they enjoy. She takes them shopping or out for lunch and is always available to chat about life, love and the world.

So far, she has helped around 200 people and their loved ones through end-of-life care.

One of the challenges for family members is that they can become isolated while caring for a loved one. Gwen’s support means they have time to meet friends and stay connected with their community.

Gwen feels proud and honoured to be nominated as a Westfield Local Hero. “I am giving a little bit of my time to someone who is running out of time, and improving their quality of life. Who wouldn't want to do that.”

Palliative Care South East will use its funds to support Carers and families of the terminally ill.

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

Melinda Shelley from 123Read2Me Limited

Melinda Shelley works diligently to give thousands of children an opportunity to read a storybook or have a book read to them. Melinda is the founder of 123Read2Me, which has provided 500,000 books to children in low socioeconomic communities. More than 8,000 children around Fountain Gate have benefitted from her work.

Rod Hoober from Cranbourne Junior Football Club

Rod Hoober is the President of the 400-member Cranbourne Junior Football Club. Rod’s priorities of child safety and development are helping the club grow and their efforts around diversity are attracting an increasing number of Indigenous and female footballers. They also focus on community responsibilities with the belief that coachable kids make employable adults.

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