Joint Winner

Prudence Cawley
Vice President, Buderim Historical Society

Prue Cawley is recognised for her ongoing commitment and dedication to the Buderim Historical Society (BHS) and wider Buderim community over many years. Since 2006, she has served on the BHS Management Committee; performing the role of Secretary for several years; as President from 2010 to 2017; and currently as Vice President.

Not afraid to embrace new ideas and learn from industry experts, Prue has actively upgraded her skills and openly shared her new-found knowledge with her fellow volunteers.  She is the driving force behind the BHS Social Fundraising Group, staging various events including the St Patricks Day concert and annual Christmas soirée at Pioneer Cottage to support the Society’s activities.

Prue has also been active in the Buderim War Memorial Community Association, performing several roles on the Management Committee and volunteering at the Old Post Office, the Visitor Centre for Buderim, on a regular basis. In these roles, she has raised the profile of the Buderim Historical Society and established excellent networks with other community groups including the Buderim Garden Club, Foote Sanctuary and The Buderim – Palmwoods Heritage Tramway Inc.

Finalists

Alicia Jones
Member, Gold Coast & Hinterland Historical Society Inc.

Alicia is a cross-cultural Welsh-Tasmanian Indigenous woman and performance artist who has been closely associated with the museum over several years. As a successful Palawa Aboriginal woman in a competitive world, she is an inspiration, having traversed a long journey through varied and challenging careers.

Alicia’s Commonwealth Games affiliation brought to the museum a wide-ranging group of Indigenous performers, fashion designers and artists. Her ease with managing different personalities and political agendas is one of her strongest qualities and reflects her successes across the years and across careers.

Iris Skinner
The House of Fashion Curator, Fassifern Historical Society, Templin Historical Museum

Iris has made an outstanding contribution to the preservation of local history, specialising in textiles, for over 25 years for the Fassifern Historical Society, Templin Museum, the Scenic Rim and Queensland. She contributes to the museum sector through supporting and mentoring fellow museum volunteers; being an active member of the Common Threads embroidery guild; being the museum’s representative for the Scenic Rim Historical Network; and as an educator throughout the museum network in south-east Queensland.

As Curator of The House of Fashion, which is gaining national and international recognition, Iris regularly attends workshops to expand her own knowledge and skills, and willingly shares this knowledge not only with the Society’s members and volunteers but also with the visitors of the museum. She recognises that the museum is communal space for friendship, support, mental health and general wellbeing by an ever-growing community of old and new members of varying backgrounds and ages from the surrounding community.