We are excited to announce your 2022 successful Westfield Local Hero for Geelong.

The successful Westfield Local Heroes organisation, will receive a grant of $20,000 to help them continue to grow their impact in the local community. Westfield will award 126 grants across Australia and New Zealand – totalling $1.26 million.

In early 2023, we will open nominations for the 2023 Westfield Local Heroes program, so start thinking about those people in your communities who make a difference.

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Your 2022 Westfield Geelong Local Hero is:

Karen Knuckey

Story Dogs
Go-Getter. Organised. Fun

Go-getter Karen Knuckey and her dogs Penny and Libby are helping more than 300 children at 19 schools find their reading voice.

Karen has found her calling as a volunteer with Story Dogs, a charity that uses pooch power to help young children overcome reading difficulties.

Through Story Dogs, primary school children build their reading confidence and focus by quietly reading to a non-judgmental dog brought into the classroom by one of the charity’s volunteers.

The charity is flourishing in Geelong thanks to Karen’s dedication. Since starting from the ground up in 2019, she has recruited a team of 24 loyal volunteers.

The benefits of volunteering with their best mate, their dog, are enormous for the adults and the children. Teachers also benefit because they often don’t have time to devote one-on-one instruction to an individual child.

Karen loves watching the children bond with her cavalier King Charles spaniels and really looks forward to the reading sessions.

An innovative leader, Karen encouraged the charity to trial online volunteer training tools, which proved invaluable during the COVID disruptions.

“Volunteering gives people an outlet for their time and skills to make their lives more enjoyable and thus contribute to a happier community,” Karen says.

Story Dogs will put the grant towards developing a new online training package to recruit and train coordinators, with the goal of expanding its reach to more primary schools

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We also congratulate our finalists who will receive a $5,000 grant for the organisation they represent, and we thank them for their incredible contribution to the local community.

Kerry Johnson from Encompass Community Services
Resourceful Kerry Johnson has gone above and beyond in her role at Encompass Community Services to start a new initiative that provides 10 local families a week with home basics packs of bed linen, pillows, towels, pots and pans. Kerry volunteered in her own time to get the program off the ground.

Laura Alice from Bluebird Foundation
Compassionate Laura Alice supports hundreds of young people as a mentor with the Bluebird Foundation, a community arts organisation that brings people together while celebrating their differences. Laura is a talented artist and loves collaborating with young people to create cutting-edge works that improve their mental health and wellbeing.

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

Recognising all our 2022 nominees

View all of the Westfield Geelong nominees and their organisation