Tumby Bay local Danica Gates has been recognised for her volunteering efforts at the 2025 South Australian Volunteer Awards.
Ms Gate was awarded the Joy Noble Medal at the ceremony on Thursday, 22 May, one of only five medals awarded.
She created a district suicide prevention network, following the death of her brother in 2016.
In the years since, she has devoted herself to suicide prevention, as the founding Chairperson of the Beacon of Hope Suicide Prevention Network.
Ms Gates co-wrote and won a SPARK Grant from the Fay Fuller Foundation to explore sustainable preventative practices in mental wellbeing in the local Tumby Bay community.
She’s also spoken at conferences, and received the 2022 Rowan Ramsay Community Award.
Almost one million people give up their time and energy to volunteer every year across the state.
Minister for Human Services, Nat Cook said Ms Gates was thoroughly deserving of the Joy Noble Medal, thanks to “the effort [she] has gone into to try and make the community a much better place for everybody and stop the trauma happening to another family.”
National Volunteer Week runs until Sunday 25 May.
