BY JEM ANSHAW
Over three decades working in and for the community has earned Lee Watts the Medal of the Order of Australia on this year’s Australia Day Honours list.
“I don’t know how I feel, very humble, very excited, it’s just such a privilege,” Lee said.
“It’s really difficult to keep it a secret, because you’re so excited and you can’t really believe it, because it’s not something you think is going to happen.”
Catching up the day after the news broke, Lee shared she had been inundated with messages from people congratulating her on the acknowledgment that recognises her service to the community and local government.
Completing a computing course over 30 years ago opened the door to a job working for community transport and from there Lee learned about Scone Neighbourhood Resource Centre where she began volunteering.
When discussing how the centre she now manages has changed over the years, Lee shared that it has evolved with the needs of the community, from offering a cup of coffee and a chat to now providing pantry supplies, access to a laundry and showers, and a multitude of other services despite minimal funding.
“Scone Neighbourhood Resource Centre has been created to help anyone that walks through that door, and as a team we do the best that we can do with every person that comes through,” she shared.
“It might be something small, it might be long term, but if we can get them on the right track or assist them with the right connections, we try to help everyone we can.”
Scone Neighbourhood Resource Centre can provide anonymity to those seeking support, having incorporated a café and the visitor information centre all in one building, so anyone seen walking in could be there for anything.
Lee’s contribution to local government was also recognised in the citation, acknowledging her 19 years as a councillor in the Upper Hunter.
“I grew in council, I think that it made me a better person and a louder person, but not in the vocal way, to be able to support those that are just doing it tough,” she reflected.
“I knew that there were so many things that needed to be done, and people were coming to me with complaints, but they weren’t community service issues, they were local government things so to be that voice, or that conduit between the two, is what got me where I was.”
The OAM will not change much in Lee’s day to day, you will still find her buzzing around the Scone Neighbourhood Resource Centre or wider community, putting all the knowledge and experience she has amassed over the years to use.
