Volunteer veteran: The Hills Senior Citizen of the Year Bill Dixon was for 42 years a volunteer fire fighter in the Bushfire Brigade, which is now known as the Rural Fire Service. Picture: Natalie Roberts

BY SALLY WILLOUGHBY

24 Jan, 2012 01:00 AM

BILL Dixon has served his community for more than 40 years.

And he’s not done yet.

The 88-year-old veteran volunteer was recognised for his commitment to the community as The Hills Senior Citizen of the Year last week.

Mr Dixon said he was humbled to receive the award.

“You don’t do this work to be recognised,” he said. “I think that when you’re able to help someone you often get more out of it yourself.”

Mr Dixon was a farmer before he moved from Gilgandra to Cherrybrook.

He then started working five days a week at Meals on Wheels offices and helped take the organisation to a new level by establishing the national Meals on Wheels Association.

“When you’re a farmer, you’re doing something every day,” Mr Dixon said.

“When we moved here, I wanted to continue that in a way that would help others.”

Mr Dixon was a key player in developing the Home and Community Care programs before setting upon what he says is one of his greatest achievements — establishing the Community Foundation of North Western Sydney in 2002.

The foundation provides accommodation, financial help, counselling and a no-interest loan scheme for local people who are disadvantaged or who are isolated or in crisis.

As part of the foundation Mr Dixon recently helped to open an internet cafe for disadvantaged young people to teach isolated adults how to operate computers.

Mr Dixon still volunteers three days a week at the foundation. He has physiotherapy treatment at hospital two days a week.

“I like doing it,” Mr Dixon said of his work. “I have an enormous number of friends and I think it’s good for me.”

The Hills mayor Greg Burnett said the award nominees personified Australian values such as community participation and giving someone a ‘fair go’.

“It is important that these wonderful people who give so tirelessly of their time and energy to our communities are recognised for the great work they do,” Cr Burnett said. “These people haven’t asked for any thanks or recognition and it is with pride that we confer these awards and offer the recipients our congratulations and thanks.”

The Community Foundation of North Western Sydney would like to update you on the progress we are making, with donors generous support, in the Hills Community with our ”Bridging the Gap” initiatives.

We are currently running 3  programmes:

• Youth Sport and Recreational Assistance which provides money to ensure the children from financially disadvantaged families can engage in team sport and other activities
•  No Interest Loan Scheme (a programme of the Good Shepherd), which provides loans to disadvantaged community members to pay for essential equipment and services. Repayments are tailored to the individual’s ability to repay. Provided we have no defaults, the $10,000 funds that we have provided will continue to be recycled to provide assistance into the future.
• Essential Equipment Programme, which provides essential equipment or services free of charge when we evaluate that the client does not have sufficient income to repay a loan.

The Foundation will continue to introduce programmes under the “Bridging the Gap” concept as the need arises.

In addition,  The Foundation have  provided assistance directly to agencies whose mission is to improve the situation of those who are disadvantaged; for example we have provided funds to the Tallowood School for disabled children to

provide wheelchair access to a garden area, and we are providing funds to turf another recreational area. As these programmes become known in the community the demand for our assistance will grow dramatically.

Expenditure Detail  for the period Jun 2010 to December 2011

The Community Foundation of North Western Sydney has come to the rescue with a capital donation of $10,000 and eligible residents in the region should make application through the Hills Community Aid:

Ask for Shyama on 9639 8620

http://www.hca.org.au/nils.php

BRIDGING the Gap, a program aimed at helping disadvantaged youngsters play sport, scored a $60,000 boost by Bankstown Sports and Baulkham Hills Sports Club.

Community Foundation of North Western Sydney founder Bill Dixon could not wipe the smile from his face as he accepted the donation which will cover registration fees and help with sporting equipment. He said the foundation provided many services to disadvantaged youth but Bridging the Gap was close to his heart.

As a teenager 75 years ago, he had wanted to cycle competitively but his family could not afford a bicycle so he scoured the scrapyards and tips and made one himself. ‘‘People think of the Hills as an affluent area but 22 per cent of people need some sort of financial help,’’ he said. ‘‘This funding will go a long way to help the disadvantaged in the Hills Shire.”

Bankstown Sports president John Murray presented the cheque on Wednesday with some of the foundation’s directors, dignitaries from both clubs and federal members of parliament.  

Bankstown Sports Club and Baulkham Hills Sports play a valuable role in the community through partnering organisations like the Community Foundation of North Western Sydney. ‘‘We appreciate the different needs of people in the community and we place great importance on ensuring families and youth in need are given a fair go,’’ Mr Murray said. “It’s also great to know this will money will allow young people the opportunity to get involved in sport and recreation.”

by BEV JORDAN

Bill Dixon set up the Community Foundation of North Western Sydney to help families in crisis. Its new Bridging the Gap program will help disadvantaged families pay registration fees for their children and supply sports equipment they couldn’t otherwise afford. “Australia has given me so much, I wanted to give something back,” Mr Dixon said.

BILL Dixon is nudging 90, walks on crutches, has clocked up more than 60 years as a volunteer and is still helping others. In fact it’s almost a full-time occupation. The Cherrybrook grandfather has a 100 stories to tell, amassed over a lifetime that started “on the wrong side of the tracks” in Western Australia.

Born near the town of Kellerberrin in 1922, he was the second child and eldest son in a family of 10 children. “We used to run home from school and if we didn’t catch a rabbit, parrot or goanna on the way home we didn’t eat,” he said .

A bright boy who was a natural at algebra, he was offered a Nuffield scholarship to further his studies but his parents turned it down. He had secured a job at a neighbouring farm and his 10 shillings a week salary was needed to support the family.

As a 12-year-old he decided he needed a bicycle. He couldn’t buy one so scoured the local tips until he collected everything he needed to build one himself. It was the joke of the area but he started racing locally and was spotted by a scout from Malvern Star who gave him a brand new cycle and racing strip to compete in.

The new cycle was his most prized possession until he joined the Light Horse Brigade in Perth at the age of 17 and was given a uniform, shoes and best of all “a horse and a saddle”.“The army gave me a chance to learn something,” he said. “I enlisted before the war started and at the age of 18 I was a sergeant.”

He took as many training courses as he could including qualifying as a mechanic. He then joined the AIF as a Landing Craft Skipper and spent several years in PNG. After the war he went back to farming and signed up as a volunteer firefighter in 1946.

He joined Hills Community Aid and Information in 1983 and was president of the founding committee of the Meals on Wheels Association of NSW.

The Community Foundation of North Western Sydney has initiated a sport and recreational assistance programme to enable families to have their children involved in sporting and other recreational activities. The programme is run by the Hills Community Aid  through their  No Interest Loan Schemes (NILS). A no interest loan of up to $300 is available to assist school aged children and young people to join a sporting or recreational club. The funds are available for residents of North Western Sydney Area.

For more information about this scheme please see NILS program details

http://hca.org.au/nils.php…

or call Shyama at HCA on 9639 8620.

Further inquires contact:

The Community Foundation of North Western Sydney

Po Box 1204

Baulkham hills NSW 1755

Web:    http://cfnws.org.au/services/

Phone: 96398620   
Email:  mcom1@hca.org.au     and    info@cfnws.org.au

An internet cafe for people aged 12-24 was officially opened by Blacktown Youth Services Association’s drop-in centre, which is part of Lalor Park Community Centre.

The initiative aims to deliver a series of workshops to assist young people in gaining employment and educational opportunities. Natalie Chiappazzo, service provision manager at the association, said this was a wonderful initiative for youths in the area.

”Having the internet cafe here will be an asset for the young people in the Lalor Park community,” she said. ”The opportunities this cafe will create will be plentiful, including several arts and cultural programs, community events and vocational training opportunities.”

The project has been funded through Community Foundation of North Western Sydney and Officeworks, Castle Hill.

It has also been welcomed by local groups including Common Groundz Community Cafe, The Art Club, and also TAFE NSW and Blacktown Council.

The foundation’s secretary, Bill Dixon (who played a major role in setting up the cafe), and Blacktown Labor councillor Leo Kelly were at the opening. The internet cafe will be open on Tuesdays from 3pm-6pm and Thursdays from noon-3pm.

Officeworks Castle Hill has for some time been anxious to be involved in being recognised as part of and contributing to the Community in which we do business.

“When we were approached by the Community Foundation of North Western Sydney to partner with themselves and Blacktown Youth Services Association to set up an Internet Cafe to help the Disadvantaged within our community, we saw it as an opportunity beneficial to all parties and in line with our philosophy of being involved in the Community.”

• Officeworks Castle Hill

One family with a disabled child was unable to afford to repair their purpose built vehicle, so the Foundation was able to contribute funds to complete the repairs.

The other family comprised a grandmother whose daughter had passed away, so was left to take care of the 4 grandchildren, and her other daughter with 3 children,  who is also living there. Their house had a badly leaking roof causing severe internal damage, which the insurance company would not repair until the roof was fixed. The Foundation was able to contribute funds to the repair and coordinate other organsations to assist.

The programme’s unique approach is solution-focused, utilising the experience of their peers to find solutions to issues affecting their lives. These issues range from bullying, coping with family separation, to anti-social behaviour, to binge drinking and drug use. Young people establish goals and new positive directions. It is a programme of caring for each other without judgement, empowerment, realising inner strength to achieve positive outcomes.

The Community Foundation of North Western Sydney is an independent, not for profit, charitable organisation that assists people in crisis or those that are socially isolated living in the North-Western region of Sydney, and “the Foundation was delighted to be in a position to assist with such a project as Youth Insearch” the Chairman Geoff Green stated.

“We are a new Foundation just finding our feet – much like the kids at Youth Insearch” said Geoff. “There is a real synergy between our organisations, in the true sense of the word, and I can see no reason not to build on our initial support of Youth Insearch in the future” he went on to say.

Emma McPherson, Youth Insearch, is presented with a cheque for $1200 by Chairman Geoff Green at a recent Board Meeting of the Foundation

“Part of the charter of the Community Foundation of North Western Sydney is to work with the youth of the area and we are planning a youth space for the isolated youth of the rural areas of the local government areas as part of our plan for the remainder of the year” the Chairman stated.

“The future of this nation rests with these young people and both Emma McPherson – Youth Liaison – Youth Insearch and the Foundation will work together to ensure they are well equipped to take the reins” Geoff said.

• Find out more about how Community Foundation helps the community »

Did you know that 3 shires in the North West Region are considered as highly disadvantaged and the other two are considered disadvantaged – according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)?

In the North Western Region of Sydney there is a population approaching 1 million people. The ABS statistics show that the level of disadvantage ranges from 22% to 34% which means that there is as many as 200,000 in  our community that need some assistance or are in crisis. Fortunately, in our society our welfare system is able to help. However, there is never enough money to satisfy the need; it is the mission of the Community Foundation of North Western Sydney to help bridge the gap, and provide solutions for those with the greatest need.