By Alesha Capone
Well-deserving members of the Wyndham community have been recognised on the Australia Day honours list for their service and volunteering.
Three residents – Wayne Deakes of Truganina, Vern Fettke of Werribee and Trish Vejby of Werribee – have been made officers of the Order of Australia (OAM).
Mr Deakes is the state training co-ordinator of St John Ambulance Australia’s Victorian branch.
He has been a member of St John since 1972, received a National Emergency Medal for his service during the Black Saturday bushfires and served as a bail justice for 26 years.
“I think it is about giving back to the community that’s important,” Mr Deakes said.
Mr Fettke, who works at the Homestead Financial Group in Werribee, said he mentored his staff with the motto: “We will be judged by our actions”.
Mr Fettke – who has undertaken dozens of volunteer and fundraising roles – said he was brought up in a family in which helping others was viewed as a way of life.
He is the chairman and founder of WEstjustice, which provides free legal help to people in the west. Among his many other achievements, Mr Fettke has served as a Wyndham Rotary Club director, Wyndham Chamber of Commerce president, Mambourin Enterprises chairman and Wyndham Community Foundation chairman.
Ms Vejby said that both of her parents were volunteers – the George Nevitt Athletics Track in Altona is named in honour of her father.
“I just felt very humbled to be nominated for an OAM – to me its second nature just to be able to help people,” she said.
Ms Vejby spent six years on the board of Western Health and 16 years on the board of Manor Court Werribee Aged Care.
She was founding chairperson of the Wyndham branch of the Royal Victorian Association of Honorary Justices and is a former member of Heritage Council of Victoria.
Former Wyndham mayor Peter Ross was awarded an OAM medal for service to the Werribee community, including with the Committee for Werribee, Werribee Chamber of Commerce and Werribee Theatre Company.
Laverton resident Colin Campbell, an MFB multicultural liaison officer in the west, received an Australian Fire Service Medal.
Point Cook’s Elleni Bereded-Samuel was appointed a member of the Order of Australia (AM). She is the founder of the Horn of Africa Communities Network.
