FEW would be surprised to see Bill Phillpot’s name among those on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for his years of community service.
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After all, the spirit of volunteering is in his blood.
The Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) recipient’s contributions during many years of community service include chairing fund-raising committees for the Warrnambool Base and St John of God hospitals, plus serving on the South West Healthcare board.
He is also a life member of the Warrnambool Racing Club and Dennington Cricket Club and in the past has been honoured with a Centenary Medal in 2001 and Warrnambool City Council Australia Day Citizen of the Year award last year.
Mr Phillpot said the importance of volunteering had been fostered in his childhood as he watched his father set the example.
“It was probably bred into me because my father did a lot of community service and I watched what he did over the years, so it seemed to come naturally to do the same things myself,” he said.
“I think the work I’ve done fund-raising for the hospital has given me the greatest satisfaction.
“The reason I’ve done that is because the health system and the hospital affect every member of the community; therefore, whatever you do for that sector helps the widest spread of people.”
The Warrnambool resident said he was flattered to learn of his OAM about a month ago, joking it was a sign of his age.
“I’d have to say at the risk of some jest, awards like this just prove you’re getting older,” he said. “It is an honour to be recognised and flattering that someone put my name forward for it. My service to the community has been done in the normal course of my routine and I never considered it to be anything special.
“I have a strong belief that in regional centres we need to do what we can to help ourselves because we regional centres can be overlooked and don’t have the volume going for them that larger cities have.
“We should all do what we can to make the area in which we live a better place,” he said. “There are a lot of people out there who give their services voluntarily to many organisations but don’t get recognised.
“I feel that there were probably many out there who deserve this more than I do.”
j.pech@fairfaxmedia.com.au
For stories about other south-west recipients, click the links below.
