Click below to view the video highlights of the 2012 ZEST Awards Ceremony.

Nearly 450 people gathered at the Grand Royale on February 29th, 2012 to celebrate the achievements in the Community Sector at the 2012 ZEST Community Service Sector Awards. Representatives from all corners of Greater Western Sydney braved the conditions to attend and the enthusiasm of the audience was evident from the start of the ceremony. The 2nd Annual ZEST Awards Ceremony was a great success, with the high quality of the nominees showing the strength of the Community Sector in the Greater Western Sydney region. Several performances from artists based in Greater Western Sydney also showcased the talent which can be found in the region.

Above: Slideshow of all the Winners and Highly Commended recipients accepting there awards.

The Stronger Voice for Greater Western Sydney Partnership, which consists of WSCF, WESTIR and TRI Community Exchange, would like to acknowledge the patronage of the Hon. Barry O’Farrell, Premier of NSW as well as the generous contributions from our sponsors. The 2012 ZEST Awards Sponsors include Blue Mountains City Council, Community Resource Network, Community Sector Banking, Family and Community Services, Hawkesbury City Council, HESTA, Holroyd City Council, LCSA, NCOSS, Penrith City Council, Parramatta City Council, WSROC and YAPA.

Without the nominations from the community the unsung heroes of the Community Sector would not get the recognition they deserve. Therefore we would also like to thank all those who nominated projects, organisations and individuals, and encourage everyone to nominate again for next year’s ZEST Awards.

Finally we would like to thank all those who attended on the night and contributed to the great atmosphere of the ceremony. Without the enthusiasm of the community this great event would simply not be possible.

It has been a great experience organising the 2012 ZEST Awards and seeing the positive impact it has had on the Community Sector in Greater Western Sydney. We hope to see you all again next year.

ZEST Working Party.

Tickets to the 2012 ZEST Awards Ceremony are now available for purchase from WSCF's website. Tickets are $30 per person with the option of booking a table for $300. Tickets are selling fast, so purchase your ticket now to avoid dissapointment!

Click here to Purchase

Thank you to all who submitted a nominated for the 2012 ZEST Awards - we received over 94 nominations this time. A fantastic response!!!

A final check to make sure we received your Nomination.

Attached for your information is a list of the nominations we received by Award Category. If you submitted a nomination can you please check to see if it is on the list - it has come to our notice that a nomination submitted on-line was not received through our server. We are hoping it’s the only one!!!

Click here to view the list.

If you find your nomination is not on the list - please call us by 4.00pm 23 December 2011 as this will be the last chance to let us know about any ‘lost in the system’ nominations that were submitted by the closing date (2/12/2011).

Please contact either: Nancy: 0421 287603 Tom: 0408 156 907 via email: tomn@wscf.org.au

It has come to our attention that there have been some issues with our server during the past week. As a result, to ensure that we receive all nominations we are extending the timeframe for a further 5 days. Nominations for the ZEST Awards will now close at 5:00pm on Friday 2^nd December, 2011.

Those of you who have submitted a nomination and have not received confirmation, please contact Tom (0408 156907) or Debbie on our main number (9687 9669).

On Wednesday 21^st September 2011 the Premier Barry O’Farrell and Geoff Lee, Member for Parramatta, joined over forty representatives from the Community Services Sector to officially launch the 2012 ZEST Awards.

Those in attendance were delighted when the Premier took up the invitations from Mary Waterford for four specific items and he agreed to: Be the Patron for the 2012 ZEST Awards Put the date for the ZEST Awards Presentation in his diary (29/2/2012) Sponsor the ZEST Award for Community Leadership – Volunteer Capacity Actively promote the ZEST Awards to the wider community including sporting clubs, in response to a request to match the sponsor's contribution with an additional $5000

 Do you know any group/organisation or individual who desrves a nomination for an award?

The ZEST Awards opened on the 19th September 2011 and will close on 25th November 2011.