Lauren Matheson described volunteering as simply ‘something that I just do’ after joining Girl Guides Horsham.

The 16-year-old Horsham Holy Trinity Lutheran College student said her friends encouraged her to join the volunteering organisation when she was in primary school.

She said this had helped facilitate her participation in Horsham’s Anzac Day and Australia Day services – which Guides annually assist in – but had also challenged her to step outside her comfort zone and join other community events and organisations such as Operation 19:14 and the Christian Emergency Food Centre.

“Community work has just become a weekly thing for me now,” she said.

“For each badge as part of Guiding, you have to do something challenging enough to earn it. 

“So, for something like a cooking badge you might have to cook a three-course meal for a person.

“It’s really fun and I like seeing other people happy.”

Ms Matheson said she was now the second oldest Guide in her group.

She said this meant she needed to step up as a role model and encourage younger Guides to get involved in community and volunteer work.

She said she hoped such leadership skills and her experiences volunteering in the Horsham community would help achieve her goal of becoming a police officer.

“My main goal is to go into the police force, because they do a lot of community work, and that’s been a big part of my childhood,” she said.

“I’m also working towards getting the hardest badge, which is the Queen’s Guide Award. 

“It has two sections that you have to complete, and it’s something that you start at age 14 and finish when you’re 18.”

Fellow Young Citizen of the Year Zach Currie said he also had the desire to be an advocate for community development. 

Mr Currie, originally from Bonnie Doon, moved to Horsham four years ago.

A qualified fleece judge and winner of a senior wool handling competition at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in 2017, Mr Currie made history in the Wimmera last year after becoming the youngest president of Horsham Agricultural Society, aged 21. 

He said after joining the society, volunteering became addictive, and he was soon seeking out other opportunities to fulfil a desire to help develop ‘a better community’.

“It all started with the agricultural society,” he said.

“Being involved with the society pushed me into doing other things such as the Leadership Wimmera program and Horsham’s Youth Council, which is still in its early days, but I’m pretty keen to be an advocate for what young people in our community want.

“It gives me personal satisfaction, I suppose.”

Mr Currie said being a part of Horsham Agricultural Society was particularly encouraging, as it provided him the opportunity to re-imagine how parts of the town could be better used for the community’s benefit. 

“The showground especially, because of where it is, is such a key parcel of land,” he said.

“And it’s intriguing to be a part of the thinking process of how we can better use it.”

Horsham’s citizen of the year Simon Risson

Horsham Show the stand-out event

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