Innovation, conservation, education and advocacy are the traits needed to be nominated for a National Trust Heritage Award. It appears MidCoast Stories has these in spades.
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The website has been shortlisted for an award in the heritage publications category for reliving the history of the Manning, Great Lakes and Gloucester in the past year.
The award is for 'publications, books, websites and videos that promote the conservation of or tell the story of our heritage' in NSW.
Website contributor Janine Roberts was thrilled with the nomination.
"We're really excited and grateful for making it this far," she said.
"I admire what they (National Trust) do with conservation and heritage."
All winners across 11 categories will be announced on Friday, May 10 at a ceremony in Sydney. This is the 25th year of the heritage awards.
Janine and fellow contributor Penny Teerman's dedication to the project has a minor downside. They won't be able to attend the awards ceremony due to the "History of Lebanese Shopkeepers in Taree" tour on the same day.
An achievement of the project is the inclusiveness of the community to provide content. About 60 stories on the website have been written by contributors.
"They can share stories that mean something to them," Penny said.
The website has more than 200 stories, researched and written by Janine and Penny.
Another key component of the site the educational resources created through transcribed data.
This took a small group of volunteers more than 4000 hours to complete.
From children to the elderly, the project has been a hit.
"It shows heritage is important to everyone," Janine said.
She hopes the project will encourage youth to have an interest in local heritage, in a bid to preserve sites and stories for the future.
Penny said the award nomination allows them to show the progress of the project.
"It could be a template for any council area to use," she said.
The fact all activities, such as walking tours, associated with the project are free doesn't phase the duo at all. The passion for research and telling a story is all the payment they need.
"All we want to do is get the information out there," Penny said.
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