GLENYS Phillpot’s OAM will match the one given to her husband, Bill, two years ago for his service to the Warrnambool community but she does not see herself as following in his footsteps.
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While Mrs Phillpot said her husband had been very supportive and had been a great person to “bounce ideas off”, she credits the teams she has worked with for her accolade rather than her husband.
Mrs Phillpot, 72, said all of her contributions to Warrnambool had been made as part of a team.
She said her extensive community involvement was founded on the belief “that if regional communities do not help themselves, no one else is likely to help their activities”.
“Warrnambool is a wonderful place to live,” Mrs Phillpot said. “It’s been kind to me and my family.
“If you enjoy the place where you live, then being involved in its activities is a natural progression.”
She said one of her outstanding involvements that highlighted the team approach had been as a director of Peter’s Project that raised money for a cancer care centre in Warrnambool.
The launch of the campaign let “the genie out of the bottle”, Mrs Phillpot said. “The community ran with it.”
The great community support had given the campaign the political clout to gain government funding, Mrs Phillpot said.
Her community involvement had evolved with the various phases of her life, from contributing to the formation of the Lions Hopkins kindergarten in 1965 when she had young children through to her current roles as president of the Warrnambool and District Historical Society and the South West Learner to Probationary Steering Committee.
Mrs Phillpot has also served as Warrnambool mayor and said her time in local government had been challenging.
“It’s difficult to take a path between community expectations and what the community can afford,” she said. But she said her time as mayor had taught her a lot about herself.
“You grow enormously.”
Among her other contributions are roles as board member of the Western Region Alcohol and Drug (WRAD) Centre, and a member of the Deakin University Council, the Warrnambool City Art Advisory Committee and the Western Region Waste Management Board.
Mrs Phillpot said some of the committees she had been involved in — such as WRAD —were not very “sexy” but were all part of helping the entire community to be healthy.
