Golden Tips on Writing a Successful Local Heroes Nomination | Pam Wilson, Westfield
“Our heroes are selected on their personal stories, their passion and their work. We don’t want to see those scripted bios. What we want is for nominees and nominators to tell us in their own words what makes that hero tick, who benefits?”
Show Notes
In this episode, I speak with Pam Wilson, National Community Experience Manager for Westfield. Pam is the creator of the Local Heroes Program.
Westfield Local Heroes is a recognition and awards program that celebrates people in Australia and New Zealand who make a positive impact in their local community or environment. Individuals are nominated and voted for by their communities, with three successful heroes per Westfield Centre each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organisation or group.
I was reminded during our chat of the huge heart funders like Pam have for the community. They pour their hearts and souls into programs like Local Heroes, which is run by just four people. It’s an impressive effort for a program that gave away $1.26m in 2020 alone.
This episode is full of stories of Local Heroes, like Chris Boyle from StandbyU Foundation and Paulo De Nobrega from the Sutherland Titans Football Club. It also gives insight into the social impact measuring Westfield are doing as part of their Community Engagement Strategy.
Did you know that Pam came up with the idea for Local Heroes while munching on tasteless, stale pretzels while sitting in the Canberra airport?! As Pam said,
“A good idea doesn't have to happen around a boardroom. It doesn't have to happen in a classroom or in a structured way. Quite literally, eating stale pretzels at the airport is enough to get your creative juices flowing.”
Take note of these top tips from Pam to give yourself the best chance of being selected as a finalist and then going on to the voting stage to win a $10,000 grant:
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Heroes are selected on their personal stories, their passion and their work. They don't want to see those scripted bios, or cut and paste from a website.
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Tell Westfield, in your own words, what makes that hero tick.
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Share the hero’s story. What challenges have they overcome?
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Be clear about how the grant will benefit the community by expanding their work or supporting the work that they do.
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Share the human side and remember that Westfield uses the information you share to promote the local heroes through their website. The community wants to read a story about that individual and learn what makes them tick and understand why they do what they do. Write it all from the heart.
Links
Nominations for the Westfield Local Heroes program are now open and need to be submitted by 15 March 2021. What a great opportunity to recognise a stand out person in your community, with the chance for $10,000 to go to the organisation they work with. Head over to the Local Heroes website for all the details and nomination form.