Uncle Roy Alexander, a member of the stolen generation, never knew his family. Yet Maribyrnong’s Citizen of the Year tells Benjamin Millar a quiet space on a bend of the Maribyrnong River shows the importance of belonging.
What’s your connection with Maribyrnong?
I do volunteer work for cohealth and a lot of other things. I’ve been doing it for 16 years now, providing food for Aboriginal elders, helping out RecLink football, all different programs.
When I retired from work and they were shutting down a lot of the factories, I wondered what I was going to do with my time. But I saw the Reclink boys playing footy and it just grew from there.
What’s the best thing about volunteering?
I just love what I do. I remember my daughter asking me one day ‘why do you do all this volunteer work for nothing?’ I told her I’ve got all the boys down there I’m working with who have all sorts of problems.
One came up to me one day and said ‘I don’t have to drink any more because I want to play footy with you’. That’s worth a million dollars to me.
How did it feel to be named Maribyrnong’s Citizen of the Year this year?
When I won Maribyrnong’s Citizen of the Year it was a big surprise. I said I do what I do because I love what I do, I don’t do it for recognition. They put me up for an award with the Council on the Ageing and I got the Seniors Achiever Award. I like to go about what I do, just getting what I do done. Just being there for people is what it’s all about. I want to be there for people.
Where’s your favourite local place and why?
Pipemakers Park. I call the gumtrees there my family. That’s where I go and sit and chill out and think. I came across it one day and I just felt at ease. I come from the Mooroopna area so it must have something to do with the river and the trees.
What do you like best about the area?
It’s a very friendly place. I can go into Footscray and there will always be someone I can have lunch with.
Who has inspired you in your life?
Aunty Francine Riches and Pastor Tony Riches. They are Aboriginal leaders and have been very good in helping me over the years. I’ve not had family all my life. We have an Aboriginal church on Gordon Street and I have a connection there. People ask me what are Aboriginal people like, I say come to the church and meet us. I invite everybody to come down.
