The Shine on Award is an annual Australia-wide Rotary award recognising exceptional service to others by people with special needs/ disabilities. The Rotary Club of Maffra decided to nominate Andrew Bedggood for this award, as he is a prominent member of our society who does an enormous amount of work to help other disabled people.
Despite significant damage to both legs following an accident, resulting in an amputation of his left leg, Andrew gives selflessly to other people, helping them to find the best ways to live with their disabilities. He formed the Sale to Sea Kayak challenge in order to give disabled people hope and belief through achievable goals.
The Club was able to obtain letters of support from several people in the community who had worked with and been helped by Andrew. One of these was James Griffiths, who came to a club meeting and talked about his blindness, getting members to walk around the room with a stick and their eyes shut, giving us a small insight into the difficulties he, and other blind people, face.
Three Rotarians went with Andrew and his wife to the Shine on Awards Ceremony in Melbourne, where Andrew was awarded the Shine On Recognition Trophy 2021 for Victoria, a wonderful result! Following this, the Rotary Club of Maffra’s Facebook page, and the local Maffra community page, had the most comments ever, as Andrew is well known and loved by many people.
This helped us in our goal to highlight the fact that disabled people are still able to give back to the community and function as normally as possible within the community.