The Dubbo Day awards were held at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre on Tuesday night.

The event marks the anniversary of Dubbo's gazettal as a village on November 23, 1849.

Twelve awards were given to deserving volunteers in the community, who have helped make Dubbo a better place.

Dubbo Regional Council mayor Stephen Lawrence said the awards recognise residents who are the "building blocks" of the community.

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"This year's recipients are a diverse group of people who have made varying and significant contributions to Dubbo, by dedicating their own time and resources to improving the lives of their fellow citizens," he said.

"I would like to congratulate and thank each recipient of this year's Dubbo Day Awards."

The Tony McGrane Award is handed out to those who have gone above and beyond in the area of their paid employment.

Mr Gibbs has been working in Dubbo and western NSW since the late 1990's, and has been a volunteer referee, coach, weekend "helper" and constant "ear".

While he uses football as his tool to engage with young people in the region, his message is always "work hard, go to school, never give up".

There were also eleven volunteer awards handed out this year which went to:

Mr Peak is a volunteer driver for LiveBetter and offers his time to clients in Dubbo and Wellington. Over the last 18-months, he has dedicated between one and three days per week, and said he enjoyed helping clients so they're able to attend important doctor's appointments as well as shopping.

During the COVID-19 pandemic has been involved in the delivery of hampers to those in need.

For the last five years Mr O'Keefe has devoted his time to volunteering for LiveBetter Community Transport, often dedicating additional days when there's a shortage.

He is known for being respectful and caring to all clients regardless of their age, culture or disability.

Prior to LiveBetter, Mr O'Keefe was a volunteer driver for the Neighbourhood Centre. He doesn't own a personal vehicle and would often walk or catch public transport to the LiveBetter office to be able to collect a vehicle. Mr O'Keefe has continued to renew his licence every year so he can volunteer with LiveBetter.

Mr O'Leary donates his time to the Dubbo RSL Sub Branch committee, Dubbo Day Club and the Cancer Council. He is involved in welfare checks on veterans who are in hospital to ensure they are ok, and offers his hobby of mounting military medals free of charge.

He has volunteered with the Dubbo Day Club for more than 10 years and is known to use his own vehicle to pick up members so they can attend club meetings. He is also the bingo caller and the barbecue cook.

Mr O'Leary has been a volunteer driver with the Cancer Council since the Dubbo office opened two years ago, and often donates his time to drive members to medical appointments which are often out of town, some trips are often an eight-hour round journey.

Ms Pellow has been an active member of Parkrun Australia, Dubbo City Swimming Club, Dubbo Rangers Soccer Club and Dubbo Athletics and Little A's. She has been heavily involved in the Parkrun event as a run director and committee member organising volunteer rosters, social media and directs the Saturday event once a month.

She was involved with the Dubbo Triathlon Club between 2005 and 2015, and also involved in the Western Region Academy of Sport - with soccer and triathlon. Here she often assisted the regional manager by volunteering on training camps, regional or metropolitan events or carnival.

Ms Pellow has also volunteered her time at school swimming and athletics carnivals by being a marshal, time keeper or coordinating a specific athletics events.

Mr Duffy is the foundational chair of the Central West Leadership Academy and first person to volunteer to help start the school. For the past five years he has spent countless hours on support and development of the school.

During the past 20 years Mr Duffy has been a member of the Rotary Club of South Dubbo and generously donates his time to attend meetings, community activities, cooking barbecues, doing home and garden clean ups and serving dinner at the Macquarie Homestay.

Mr Duffy is also heavily involved in the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness Program, the Newcastle Youth Science Forum and the Dubbo Christmas Fair.

He was a member of the Dubbo and District Pony Club from 1999 until 2019, on the executive board for 18 years and vice president for two, building the club to what it is today.

Ms Angel has been an integral part of the Walan Community Garden for the past four years, and has helped to develop it into a space that is inclusive, accessible for all and visually spectacular.

She is a certified volunteer supervisor for the gardens and is responsible for the overseeing offenders who are required to complete community service hours as part of their sentence, and has built a great rapport with participants.

Ms Angel is also involved in the new wellbeing garden at the Western Cancer Centre at the hospital, which has been receiving wonderful feedback.

Ms O'Brien is captain of the Dubbo Volunteer Rescue Squad and is on call around the clock. She is also responsible for arranging training nights for the members under her command, so they can attend major accidents and assist other emergency services in preserving life and helping our community.

She has been very active in the squad since joining six-and-a-half years ago. She is a general land rescue operator and has been both secretary and events coordinator ensuring vital funds can be raised to purchase the necessities for the VRA.

Mr and Mrs Sykes are an integral part of the Dubbo Community, involved in the Cancer Council, Rivercare, Dubbo Pink and White Committee and Palliative Care just to name a few.

Mr Sykes donates his time to drive cancer patients to their medical treatments appointments, particularly if they were isolated. He puts in many hours with Rivercare along the Macquarie River and has established and maintains a stretch of the Tracker Riley pathway between East Street and Sir Roden Cutler Park.

The pair host an annual fundraising event in their garden with views over the Macquarie River to raise money for the Guide Dog Association.

Mr Sykes is a well-respected speaker at many rural and regional events particularly on family counselling and succession planning for rural families, NALAG and sustainable water use. Though she is often paid for speaking appearances, if an organisation cannot afford to pay she will often do speak free of charge and she has also donated her fees to charities on several occasions.

Ms Hiraoka came to Dubbo about two years ago and founded a social, community group called See You in Dubbo, which has risen to 600 members.

See You in Dubbo has a variety of events including community sport, trivia nights, social functions, bushwalks, volunteer working bees, multicultural picnic, meet and greet events for new people, and has been very beneficial particularly to migrant workers in the community.

She has recently founded a new social enterprise called Wilba, which aims to plug the gaps in Dubbo's public transport system by providing reduced cost flexible rideshare travel.

She also works different jobs and picks up casual agricultural labour so she can continue to indulge her passion of helping the community and making life in Dubbo the best it can be.

At this year's Dubbo Day awards, the committee presented a special recognition award to nine-year-old Izabelle Kelly for her service to the community.

During the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Izabelle started writing and sending her friends letters in the post.

According to her citation, Izabelle excitement was tangible when she would send a letter to a friend and especially so if they wrote back to her. Opening the mailbox to discover a handwritten card, note or letter for her was the highlight of her day.

During the recent lockdown she was putting her energies into her craft, drawing and painting.

Izabelle then started creating cards and letters for her great grandmother, who she was unable to visit, and this got her thinking about other elderly people in the community.

Her handmade cards for her great grandmother soon turned into a crafting production line and she made over 60 cards initially to deliver to the mailboxes of the residents at Ingenia Gardens in Dubbo.

"I was super excited," she told the Daily Liberal earlier this year.

The excitement and joy she experienced while creating and delivering her cards fuelled her to create more.

Izabelle is continuing to make more cards and has set herself a target to make and deliver 200 cards in the Dubbo community, hoping to bring a smile to an elderly person's day.

She said residents of the RSL LiveCare - Bill Newton VC Gardens were her next recipients.