Meet the Finalists - 2025 Tidy Towns and Cities Sustainability Awards

Congratulations to our 2025 Tidy Towns and Cities Sustainability Awards Finalists. We have once again got a brilliant collection of worthy people and projects, making wonderful contributions to the sustainability of our beautiful state.

We encourage everyone to grab a ticket to the awards ceremony and join us on the 28th October at Rydges Melbourne to find out who our winners will be, and to meet the outstanding people who do so much for Victoria.

Tickets are available now - https://events.humanitix.com/tidy-towns-and-cities-sustainability-awards-2025

• EcoSoulLife - Litter - Kingston City Council

• Garry Jarris - 500,000 Recycle Bottles and Cans - Litter - Indigo Shire Council

• Frankston City's Environmental and Friends Group Volunteer Bushland - Environment - Frankston City Council

• Kooyongkoong Alliance: Connecting habitats and communities - Environment - Kooyongkoong Alliance

• Lid Rescue Project - Litter - Circular Peninsula

• Beechworth Toy Library - EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction - Indigo Shire Council

• Bin it or Take it home with you! Community Engagement and Awareness Campaign - Litter - City of Greater Dandenong

• Beechworth Toy Library - Town - Indigo Shire Council

• Riddells Creek War Memorial Gates - Heritage and Culture - Macedon Ranges Shire

• Dimboola Dollars - Bushfire Recovery Program - Community - The Lions Club of Dimboola

• The Birth of a Pottery Community - Community - Mansfield & District Potters (MAD Potters)

• 170 Years of Ovens and Murray Advertiser - Heritage and Culture - Indigo Shire Council

• Shall we Dance - Community - Dreams Can Come True Formal Wear Hire Chiltern Branch

• Securing our Story: Beechworth's National Heritage Journey - Heritage and Culture - Indigo Shire Council

• ENJOY Parks for LIFE - Social Well-Being - National Ageing Research Institute

• Trail Hiking Australia - Social Well-Being - Trail Hiking Australia

• Climate Ready Gardens - Environment - Strathbogie Shire Council

• YES Awards - Social Well-Being - Frankston City Council

• Queen Victoria Market Circular Economy Precinct - EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction - STREAT & City of Melbourne

• Winterwords - Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education - Indigo Shire Council

• Growing our Urban Forest 60,000 trees - Environment - Frankston City Council

• Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation - Environment - Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation

• St Joseph's Primary School Nature Play Group - Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education - St Joseph's Crip Point

• Living with Purpose - Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education - Repurpose it

• Clay Banks for Generation - Environment - Indigo Shire Council

• Wash Against Waste Event Trailer - EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction - Mornington Peninsula Shire Council

• Empowering community through compassionate and immediate crisis relief - Social Well-Being - Wayside Community Emergency Relief

• 3PLaS - Southern Peninsula Laundry and Shower program - Social Well-Being - Southern Peninsula Community Support

• Greater Geelong Smart LED Street Light Program - Energy - City of Greater Geelong

• Tonwinin Wominjeka Youth Hub - Social Well-Being - Mornington Peninsula Shire

• Biyal-a-Armstrong Creek Library - Community - City of Greater Geelong

• Seat for Reflection - Indigenous Culture - Indigo Shire Council

• Share & Swap Shop - EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction - City of Port Phillip

• Windharp Horizons - Environment - Buloke and Northern Grampians Landscape Network

• Nature Strip Blitz - Social Well-Being - Geelong City Council

• Frankston City Council Coastal Strategy - Cultural Values Assessment - Indigenous Culture - Frankston City Council

• Habitat Heroes - Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education - Wyndham City Council

• Land Protection Grant Scheme - Environment - Wyndham City Council

• RMIT Construction Waste Lab - EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction - City of Melbourne

• Coastal process education and dune erosion mitigation - Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education - Mornington Peninsula Shire

• Mornington Peninsula Shire's 'Virtual Energy Network' pilot - Energy - Mornington Peninsula Shire Council

• Geelong Nature Festival 2025 - Explore and Restore - Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education - City of Greater Geelong

• Beachkeepers of the Bay - Environment - Port Phillip EcoCentre

• Crowd Sauce: Connecting community through circular food innovation - Community - STREAT

• Port Phillip EcoCentre Redevelopment - Energy - City of Port Phillip

• Geelong's Homegrown Compost Supporting Waste Reduction and Sustainable Food Production - EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction - City of Greater Geelong

• Community Dirt Jump Program - Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education - Mornington Peninsula Shire

• Made with Love Free Chemotherapy Turbans - Social Well-Being - Turban Angels

• Our Survival Day - Indigenous Culture - Our Songlines

• Sustainable Swim Schools - Energy - Paul Sadler Swimland

• Frankston City's Environmental and Friends Group Volunteer Guidelines - Community - Frankston City Council

Tidy Towns Alumni - Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking

The Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking (The Guild) was founded by Alastair Boell in 2007. After graduating from the world renowned North Bennet Street School, Boston, USA, Alastair felt that there was a great need in Australia for an educational facility that focuses on traditional skills. We travelled out to Blackburn to check out their workshop and training spaces... and to meet the workshop doggo! Alastair and Jacqueline were generous hosts, and took us on a tour of the facilities, the projects and the reclaimed timber storage!

Winner of the Tidy Cities Heritage and Culture category in 2024, the space is incredible. The facilities include a fully equipped machine room, 4 classrooms with workbenches, numerous hand tools, hardware, finishing products and a variety of exotic salvaged timbers.

They also offer onsite milling with their own mill and an in-house workshop milling service.

For those interested in ‘Commission’ work, they have a gifted community of furniture designers/makers on call. 

The Guild is committed to preserving and advancing craft traditions in furniture making. They are also committed to promoting a greater awareness and appreciation of craftsmanship. In their classes they emphasise the skilful use of hand tools and power equipment and an informed use of appropriate materials and proportions.

They are clearly so passionate and knowledgable about what they do and want to share information, ideas and skills with their extended woodworking community.

It's a truly inspiring space, filled with kind, creative and helpful people, and enough interesting project ideas to keep you busy for as long as you've got to spare!

There will be a free hand tool and open day event weekend in November that we encourage everyone to go and check out!

When: Sat 22nd & Sun 23rd November 2025

10am - 4pm each day

Where: 14 Cottage St, Blackburn, VIC

More information on the open day and the guild can be found here - https://www.mgfw.com.au/open-day-weekend

Tidy Towns Awards - Get your entries in, three weeks to go!

For 43 years we have celebrated and supported projects and organisations doing wonderful work, sustaining amazingly diverse Victorian ecosystems and the people within them.

This year we are once again encouraging you to enter your work into the Tidy Towns and Cities Sustainability awards.

You don't have to be a big organisation. You can be a business, non-profit or just a group of interested and engaged volunteers who have been looking after your corner of the world.

Your project might be in your own street, or it may have broad, international application. Across the 10 categories, there is a spot for every kind of positive community action - and a spot for every community person making an effort.

The 'Tidy Town' and 'Tidy City' overall award is given to the town or city that has the greatest number of impactful projects in it, in any given year. So even if you aren't sure if you will win, you could be a major part of getting your municipality over the line to win the coveted ultimate prize, of 'Tidy Town' or 'Tidy City', and send them to the national finals!

So forward this to everyone who is doing their best to have a positive impact in the world, and encourage them to enter this year. To become part of our amazing Tidy Towns Alumni, and be recognised for all the important work being done across the state.

We would love to have you involved, to make 2025 a year full of hope and positivity as we tackle these challenges, together. Entries close 11 August 2025.