Mayoral Column – Recognising Penrith’s unsung heroes

Wednesday, 25 March 2026

One of the things I love most about Penrith is that so many people go above and beyond to help others in our community - and give their time and energy to improve our City in a variety of ways.

As Mayor, I’m privileged to be out in our wonderful community where I see these inspirational people in action and learn about the incredible work they do.
These often-unsung heroes deserve to be recognised, and Penrith City Council’s Local Celebration Awards are the perfect opportunity for us to honour their contributions.

Submissions close soon for our 2026 Local Celebration Awards but there is still time to nominate and the process is easy. I encourage you to put forward someone in the Penrith community who inspires you. They could be a steadfast volunteer for your local sporting club, an environmental leader, a compassionate neighbour or familiar face at your favourite café who humbly supports community drives.

In last year’s group of winners, we had residents from all walks of life. They all had different interests and strengths and what stood out to me was their shared can-do attitude. These quiet achievers are driven by passion, kindness and care for our community.

As Penrith is growing and changing every day, our community is also building its resilience and connectedness thanks to the nature of all our residents, whether they are new to the City or have lived here a long time - and that is something to be proud of.

There are four categories for this year’s Local Celebration Awards. They are Citizen of the Year (over 18) Young Citizen of the Year (aged 24 or younger), Mayor’s Local Hero Award and Making a Difference – Community Service Award.

Award recipients will be formally recognised later in the year at a civic event, where I look forward to thanking them in person for their contributions to our City.

To nominate, visit penrith.city/local-celebration-awards, where you can also find out more about the program and last year’s winners.

Cr Todd Carney
Mayor of Penrith

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Wednesday, 25 March 2026.