Workforce

Touching tribute to long-standing Goulburn volunteer

Freya Lucas

May 18, 2020

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A special bench will be installed at a pre-school attached to St Saviour's Cathedral, run by Anglicare, to honour the efforts of long-standing community volunteer Bronwyn Cooper, who sadly passed away earlier this year from complications arising from a congenital heart condition.

Ms Cooper’s sister, Janelle Storm, told local publication The Goulburn Post that she was deeply touched by the way in which the community as a whole had paid tribute to her sister, with particular note of the acknowledgement made by the preschool community, where Ms Cooper had volunteered since the age of 14.

As well as being a long standing volunteer with the preschool, Ms Cooper was a carer for her elderly parents.

Ms Cooper was a twin, and began her time volunteering at the preschool with her sister, when they finished school in their early teens and their mother “sent them out to find something to do," Ms Storm said.

Both parents were very involved in the church community, she added, and this is how the girls were introduced to the preschool when a call for volunteers went out. Ms Cooper “fed generations” of preschoolers through the kitchen of St Saviour’s, which has been named Bronnie’s Kitchen in her honour.

The Anglicare team will today unveil a memorial bench and plaque in the grounds of the centre to acknowledge the efforts of Ms Cooper, as well as hosting a morning tea.

National Volunteer Week is celebrated in Australia from 18-24 May, and provides an opportunity for communities to recognise the work of Australia’s volunteers. The theme for 2020 is “Changing Communities, Changing Lives” To read the original coverage of this story, please see here. More information about National Volunteer Week may be accessed here.

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