Mannering Park Progress Association will install a bench seat on the shores of Lake Macquarie at Mannering Park in memory of Coral Burnham and her extensive contribution and voluntary service to the local community.
Coral and her husband Dennis arrived in Mannering Park with their family in 1988 and from then her volunteering and community work was spread far and wide.
She devoted herself to both executive and non-executive roles for more than two decades in the Mannering Park Public School Parents and Citizens Association and 30 years-plus in Mannering Park Progress Association which also involved almost 20 years representing the community at Delta Care Forums run by Delta Electricity at Vales Point Power Station.
There were also many unsung contributions such as working with children in reading groups and canteen duty at the local school, even long past when her own children left.
Another example of Coral’s contributions to the health and wellbeing of the local school children was to organise and gain funds from Delta Electricity to buy fresh fruit to ensure every pupil had a free piece of fresh fruit daily.
Mannering Park Progress Association President Kelvin Wynn said Coral achieved or contributed to many beneficial outcomes for the whole community.
“Nothing was too big or too small for Coral’s attention and when action was needed her efforts usually resulted in a positive response,” he said.
“Many good things for the community as a whole came about with a phone call by Coral to Council or to Members of Parliament and she earned the respect of those people.”
Coral Burnham was recognised by the then Federal Member for Shortland, Jill Hall, and received two Commitment to Community Service Awards in 2014 for her contribution to the environment and community.
She assisted with planning of the community garden on the corner of Vales Rd and Ruttleys Rd, as well as the maze garden at Mannering Park Community Hall.
“One of her passions and lasting legacies is the shared pathway which she strove hard for more than 20 years to achieve,” Wynn said.
“The resultant pathway has added immeasurably to the quality of life in Mannering Park for all.”
It is in a prime spot along that shared pathway, in front of the Sea Scouts Hall in Griffith St, where Mannering Park Progress Association has organised to establish a memorial bench seat dedicated to “one of our finest community members, Coral Burnham, 8.6.1948 – 12.6.2021”.
Sue Murray