Invercargill City Council has received nine nominations for the Council’s Civic Awards, recognising unsung heroes who are making a difference in our community.

Councillors agreed to reinstate the awards this year – previously, Council handed out 73 award honours between 1984 and 2016.

The 2024 nominations – which closed on Friday, April 12 – spanned all four categories: social, cultural, economic and environmental.

Nominees will now be considered by a panel made up of the Mayor or Deputy Mayor, a Council representative, one Councillor from the Community Wellbeing Committee, a mana whenua representative, and a community representative nominated by the panel.

Councillor Darren Ludlow – who advocated for the return of the Civic Awards – said that it was wonderful to see the awards back after a hiatus.

“We’re grateful to the people who’ve put the nominations in, otherwise the people behind the great mahi going on may well continue to have gone unrecognised,” Cr Ludlow said. “We’ve had some great diversity in the nominations received – while not everyone might end up receiving a formal Civic Award, it certainly makes you feel proud of some of the people in our city and the work they do for us.

“Its important Council recognises those people in our community – often people who shy away from the spotlight – who volunteer above and beyond. At a grass roots level, they’re the people who make our place tick, enhancing and enabling opportunities for others.”

The panel will now be going through the nominations before reporting to the Community Wellbeing Committee with their decision.

The Civic Award ceremony will be held this winter – check in with our Council website and Facebook page to stay updated.