Undoubtedly the highlight of the recent 2018 AGM is the chance for the station to recognise those volunteers who make a difference in the short-term.

The Marg Barry Award Community Service Award

No discussion of the station’s history should ever overlook the contribution made by one of our longest serving directors, Marg Barry, who died on 28th of February, 2001. She was an original board member of 2RES who served as treasurer from 1976 to 2001. She served as a mentor to successive managers who greatly appreciated her wisdom and experience. Officially she was the Coordinator of the Inner Sydney Regional Council for Social Development until 1999.

Unofficially, she was a social provocateur, a community activist and organiser. At the time Barry was paid for only three days a week, but in fact worked all week and most weekends. She was on Boards, regional forums, Labour committees, had been on Sydney City Council and was a secretary of the Waterloo branch of the ALP.

Since her death in 2001, Eastside Radio has given the “Marg Barry Community Service Award” to a different presenter every year for volunteer community work at the station.

This year’s recipient has been at the station for more than 5 years. A worthy contributor to the many arms of the organisation having been involved as a volunteer, a presenter, a Music Director and a trainer.

Her journey into Eastside Radio began as a 17 year old, something few of us could believe, for her knowledge and skills were far beyond her years. Initially she left for Universal Music yet the offer of Music Director, her own show Take One, and the chance to learn more and have greater responsibility than any other organisation was enough to entice her to return.

From training new presenters and volunteers in the studios, to showing others all the wonders of LRM, for continually growing the audience for her program on air and online and for the many hours over and above everyone else as the Music Director; For supporting the station in so many ways and for being a positive part of the station’s culture, something we desire in all our volunteers but as we know is often harder than it seems.

Congratulations on the 2018 Marg Barry Award – Melanie Christodoulou

“It was such an honour to be considered, let alone awarded, for such a prestigious award. Working at Eastside is not the kind of thing you do to gain accolades, if anything you end up indebted to the station for the amazing amount of hard work, resources and time it offers those who step through that sacred front door. 

I stand by what I said on the night, I tell anyone and everyone who asks me about my career that I wouldn’t have gotten as far as I have without Eastside. It takes people like the station’s leadership team and its dedicated broadcasters seeing potential in young people to give them the platform to explore and prosper. 

I have loved not only learning but also passing on my knowledge to those around me. It it such a thrill seeing members gain confidence in their abilities having sat with them at the very beginning of their journey at a panel, brainstormed about content or started them off with an essential listening guide to a genre that they’ve yet to discover. 

Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way, special shout out to Gemma, Stephanie, Cait, Siobhán, Chelsea, Conor, Amma, Natasha, Chris (both of you :)), Gill, Virginia, Steve, David, Stacey, Belina, Pino, Toby, PJ, Paula, Dan, Matt, Ruth, Oliver, Suren, John, Jim, Phil, Anita, Olana, you’ve all, along with the wider station, have left a major impact on my life.” – Melanie Christodoulou