Nominations are open for this year’s Welly Awards - celebrating local heroes from across the Wellington region.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker is calling on Porirua to nominate our local legends who are making a marked difference in the community.

"Every day I meet incredible people in our city that work very hard for our Porirua community - they are tenacious, persistent and make a huge impact in their field of work.

Many of these local heroes work behind the scenes and shy away from the limelight, and I think we need to recognise their sterling mahi and share their accomplishments with the rest of Wellington," says Mayor Baker.

The Welly Awards began in 1989 to recognise people who made a huge impact across all sectors in the greater Wellington region. The awards span across nine categories - arts, business, community service, education, environment, public service, science & technology, sport, and youth.

Porirua City is a proud sponsor of the sport category and our locals are no strangers to the Wellys, with plenty of nominees and winners in previous years.

"Porirua has always been well-represented at the Wellys, including category winners TJ Perenara (sport, 2018), John Fiso (education, 2016), Elizabeth Sneyd and Craig Utting (community service, 2015) and Keith Calder (environment, 2012)," says Mayor Baker.

Nominations are open to the public until 26 November and finalists will be announced in each category on 1 December. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 23 February 2022, at the Embassy Theatre.

"In these tough times of facing the ongoing crisis of Covid-19, I have seen how our community leaders, business leaders, sports heroes and young people pull together and find meaningful ways to connect with each other and work on solutions that is fit for our community. If you know of anyone that deserves a bit of recognition, please take the time to nominate them," says Mayor Baker.

To nominate a Porirua legend, go to wellys.co.nz

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