Ben Andrew and Louise Bradford named as Bunbury’s citizens of the year

Bunbury’s best were recognised with the presentation of Citizen of the Year awards on Saturday during the city’s Australia Day ceremony.

Ben Andrew beat a large field of nominees to be awarded Citizen of the Year for his hard work with the Rotary Club and the Relay for Life committee.

The award comes more than 15 years after he was recognised as the city’s young citizen of the year.

“It’s a huge honour because Bunbury holds a very special place in my heart, it’s an amazing city which is part of an amazing country,” he said.

“There are so many fantastic people that do so much to make Bunbury what it is and I’m just one small part of that — it is very humbling to be recognised.”

The Young Citizen of the Year gong went to Louise Bradford, 18, who declared her passion for the work she does with wheelchair badminton.

“I had an accident in 2017 which left me in a wheelchair for eight months so that drove me to help people with disabilities,” she said.

“And I just love music, so it’s great to be able to help with the eisteddfods.

“Really, I just like helping and doing as much as I can.”

The Bunbury RSL Club and Doors Wide Open were jointly named community groups of the year.

The Wilcox Brown Perpetual Trophy went to the Bunbury Rowing Club.