A woman who has a heart of gold and desire to help those in need received a surprise small entourage at her workplace to present her with SIAHTO’s Woman of the Year award.

Jess Voysey, the daughter of Liz and Robert Woodin, received the honour at a small celebration on Tuesday night.

The organisation’s Kim Owens and Jenny Wilson travelled to Wee Waa for the surprise announcement.

Mrs Voysey was asked to come along to a SIAHTO meeting to talk to the group but could not attend due to work commitments.

Instead, SIAHTO planned the awarding of its annual honour with Mrs Voysey’s workplace, Nurruby Children’s Services.

A shocked Mrs Voysey received her bouquet of flowers and trophy in front of colleagues before going to Narrabri to celebrate the accolade at an official function.

The small crowd gathered at the Narrabri Public School hall for the celebratory dinner heard Mrs Voysey’s list of contributions to the community.

Mrs Owens detailed the organisations Mrs Voysey has assisted as well as the individuals she has supported.

Most recently, Mrs Voysey helped raise money to support Brett Nolan who was injured after falling from the roof of a hay shed.

“She is a very active member in our society and very deserving of this honour,” Mrs Owens said.

Mrs Voysey told The Courier it was coming from a caring family that has set her on her path to continually help others.

“I love to help people out,” she said.

“You don’t like to see people struggling.”

Professionally, Mrs Voysey is known for caring for local children as Nurruby’s out-of-school-hours care service coordinator in Narrabri and as an educational lead at the organisation’s Wee Waa facility.

“I can spoil them and give them back,” she said of caring for children at Nurruby.

“I love all the kids.”

This year, eight nominations were received for SIAHTO’s Woman of the Year award. The group reported that all were very worthy nominations.

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