Citizen of the Year Awards, 2019

Hassib Elias was announced as the recipient of the 2019 Ryde Citizen of the Year award at the City of Ryde Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony at North Ryde School of Arts Hall.   A resident of Ryde for more than 50 years, Mr Elias has been involved in a range of community organisations that assist refugees and new migrants settle into the local area. Mr Elias’s work has been of benefit to many new migrants, including refugees from Syria and Iraq, helping them find housing, household items and permanent employment. He also assists with translation services and helping new immigrants apply for government support services. He is also President of the Palestinian Association of Australia as well as a long serving member of the City of Ryde’s Multicultural Advisory Committee. 

The Ryde Young Citizen of the Year was awarded to Tasnia Ahmad for her work as an advocate for local youths. Ms Ahmad is Vice Chair of the Ryde Youth Council in which she has worked hard to ensure local young people have a voice in their community. She has also provided a wealth of knowledge and experience volunteering for a variety of Council working groups including the Granny Smith Festival working group and the social media working group. Ms Ahmad is also the founder of Youth of Sydney, a photo journal media project that aims to debunk the multitude of negative stereotypes about today’s youth, and volunteers for local radio station 2RRR, hosting the popular Youth Jukebox program.  

Local resident Carmen Platt also received a City of Ryde Special Commendation for her volunteer work.  Ms Platt established not-for-profit group The Generous and the Grateful, which aims to provide essential household items to disadvantaged people. In the space of three years, The Generous and Grateful has helped hundreds of victims of domestic violence, refugees and youth at risk by providing them with furniture and other essential household items.