The long-serving President of the Macclesfield RSL has won one of four prestigious Anzac of the Year Awards in Australia.
Army veteran Dennis Oldenhove recognised for “the incredible impact” he has made to the sub-branch, making it an integral part of the community.
“His leadership and commitment to make lasting change for both Veterans and his community exemplifies the ANZAC Spirit,” said RSL Australia on their website.
Oldenhove spoke to ARN’s Adam and Jennie this morning about the recognition, saying during his almost 18 years with the organisation, he’s been working on community engagement.
“We were a very small, struggling sub-branch and we turned that around by re-engaging with the community, other community groups, service groups, sports clubs, local schools… By supporting all of those groups they, in turn, support us and we’ve been able to build a really good bond between all of the community groups in the town and we’re all going from strength to strength,” Oldenhove said to ARN’s Adam and Jennie this morning.
Since building the ANZAC Memorial Garden at Walker Street and Strathalbyn Rd in 2009, the Macclesfield RSL sub-branch has expanded its mental health campaign, building signage bollards next to bench seats in the town that offer crisis and support information, including the number for Lifeline,13 11 14.
“We put them in parks, walking trails, playgrounds, skate parks, wherever people might go wandering if they need to take a walk and get a bit of space and may just sit and contemplate their situation and it might just be a visual prompt to reach out and get some help and hopefully change the direction that they’re in,” Oldenhove said.
Dennis has just returned from a trip to Vietnam, mentoring year 9 and 10 students from across SA to walk in the footsteps of Australian veterans for the Premier’s ANZAC Spirit School Prize Vietnam Study Tour.
He told Adam and Jennie that the 19 selected students were wonderful to mentor.
“The personal growth you see in these kids on a journey like this is quite profound and life-changing for them, so it’s a wonderful project to be involved with,” he said.
Hear the full chat with Dennis Oldenhove via Soundcloud.
