The U3A Community Groups Expo has been awarded the Australia Day Community Event Award for 2023.
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The Expo was held in October 2023 at the Horsham Town Hall, where more than 50 local groups provided residents, visitors, and newcomers the chance to explore organisations and services active in Horsham and the district.
"It was amazing to receive the phone call from the mayor, Robyn Gulline to say we had been awarded the Australia Day Community Event Award," June Liddy said.
"It was the icing on the cake after a lot of hard work."
The Expo created an opportunity for networking and active participation between groups.
More than 300 people attended on the day and interacted with the variety of stalls taking part.
During 2023, the Horsham U3A committee identified the need to encourage people to attend events and gather together after so much time in isolation due to the pandemic.
"People had become used to staying at home and had lost touch with some of the services available to them and each other, and this was a way of bringing everyone together and encouraging socialisation again," Ms. Liddy said.
The committee members agreed it was a lovely surprise to receive the award and said the hard work that went into organising the event was well worth it.
It was a free event that delivered wide-ranging benefits to the community.
Stall sites were free, entry was free, and tea and coffee were available.
"We have heard that some of the organisaitons have already had interest from people considering joining as members, so it was very successful on many fronts," Ms Liddy said.
![U3A Committee Members - Bob McIlvera, Bill Goodwin, Mike Coffee, Rick Walker, Joyce Lane, June Liddy, Judy Dillon, Carol Drummond. Picture by Sheryl Lowe U3A Committee Members - Bob McIlvera, Bill Goodwin, Mike Coffee, Rick Walker, Joyce Lane, June Liddy, Judy Dillon, Carol Drummond. Picture by Sheryl Lowe](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/189654477/e32b27da-ca67-43b4-a7f5-825cd4982dcc.jpg/r278_9_3360_2168_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Committee Member Rick Walker said the committee was pleased to see the community had the opportunity to see the work of U3A.
"An opportunity to display what we do and what we contribute to the community and other organisations was such a bonus to U3A," he said.
"We are all three years older since the pandemic, and it's been difficult to attract the community's younger members because most couples are both working due to the high cost of living, high rents, and interest rates," he said.
The nomination for the award emphasized the hard work of the committee organising the Expo and said they should be congratulated for that.
"We had a lot of work to do contacting everyone because many of the committee members had changed since the pandemic, and we had to find out who were the new contacts. It took a lot of phone calls, but it was worth it," Committee Member Joyce Lane said.
![Committee Member - June Liddy Picture by Sheryl Lowe Committee Member - June Liddy Picture by Sheryl Lowe](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/189654477/cd9e95da-5d34-4f6b-9930-9e4ca63abdd5.jpg/r0_0_4032_2267_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
U3A will hold a meeting of all organisations that participated in the Expo in the coming weeks, with the aim of forming a committee to oversee the Expo and create a sustainable model for the future.
"It's the only way U3A and any volunteer organisation can be sustainable because committee members change over the years, and sometimes that means events such as this are lost to the community," Committee member Carol Drummond said.
"The Expo brought people together and showed each organisation's work," she said.
Committee members said they were grateful to the HRCC for funding the new flags, the Town Hall Staff for their help, the council staff for their assistance, the Centre for Participation, and the Senior Citizens for loaning mobility aids for the day.
"The event showed that U3A is a sharing caring organisation that shares and teaches life skills," Ms Liddy said.
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