This year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list includes a number of recipients from the New England North West.
Tamworth-based retired audiometry nurse, Kathy Challinor, says it’s an honour to be awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
She’s been an advocate for hearing tests for newborns and worked to improve the hearing of the region’s farmers.
Mrs Challinor has been the manager of the New South Wales Rural Noise Injury Prevention Program since 1985, and was a founding member of the New England Audiometrist Nurse Group.
She says it was her own life experience that ignited a desire to follow audiometry nursing as a career.
“I had two children who had chronic middle ear infections and I couldn’t get anybody to listen to me that they were having difficulties, and I thought if a nurse cannot get the medical profession to listen to them what hope does a lay person have?” she said.
“So I went and learnt all about it and became a bit of an advocate of people who weren’t put through that first layer to get some appropriate treatment and referral.”
Mrs Challinor spent several years visiting AgQuip at Gunnedah, to provide hearing check-ups and preventative advice to farmers.
“Many times the farmers would come in year after year, and they’d come in with their previous results and they’d just check in to see they hadn’t gotten any worse,” she said.
“That to me is a great validation and what you’re doing has positive impact on people’s lives.”
An OAM has also gone to Manilla’s Doctor Cameron Henderson for his service to medicine as a GP.
Dr Henderson has been in the Manilla community for close to 40 years, during which time he’s served as Director of the Barwon Division of General Practice for six years, provided health checks to farmers at AgQuip, and taught in the School of Rural Medicine at UNE.
Dr Henderson says he’s proud to have been part of setting up the Manilla Multi-Purpose Service.
“It’s wonderful for the town and the community to have a 52-bed facility, that’s up and running and right for the future,” he said.
“I’m not sure how the stars lined up on that one, but I’m convinced that just with a will and a wish, and some strong support, things happen.”
Armidale’s Helena Smith has also been recognised with an OAM for her service to community health and social welfare organisations.
She has been involved at an executive level of Legacy in both Armidale and Forbes, and the Armidale branch of the Australian Diabetes Council.
Helena Smith says her family’s circumstance provided the spark to involve herself in community service.
“My grandmother had diabetes in the day when insulin was just introduced and a very new thing,” she said.
“Later on my mother had diabetes and then I had it.
“So when they were forming a branch in Armidale I became involved because it was important to me.”
She says it’s been particularly rewarding to help children with diabetes.
“We helped lots of people for example children, to help them cope with their big problem,” Ms Smith said.
“We raised money to buy things to help the Diabetes Educator look after people with diabetes.”
Former Armidale mayor, Rosemary Leitch has been recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for significant service to Armidale, local government and a range of arts organisations.