Celebrating Karratha’s finest

In the grand scheme of things, Karratha is a relatively new town, but it’s a place with a very big and very bright future.

The growth of Karratha into a city people love to live in has well and truly been a team effort, but there are a small number of people who are key influences in the community and on the direction in which the town is going.

The Pilbara News has narrowed down the list of the most influential people in Karratha to 16, with unsung heroes David Heathwood and Sandra Spadanuda high on the list.

After years of living and working in regional and remote Australia and seeing the gaps in services, programs, funding and resources for young people, the pair founded Blue Beanie Projects, which aims to build the confidence and self-esteem of youth in the community

The Pilbara Shine Project is one of the many programs they run, helping to build the confidence and self-esteem of young people in the community through modelling and catwalk shows.

“We’re both qualified youth workers and we think youth work has a big part to play in suicide prevention and it’s not recognised as much as it should be,” Ms Spadanuda said.

The Blue Beanie Project’s motto is “Strong. Resilient. Empowered.”, which the pair believes forms a big part of suicide prevention as a whole.

“It’s important to build that social and emotional wellbeing in young people to be able to prevent the pain and suffering so many families go through,” Mr Heathwood said.

Prominent local government figures, hospitality pioneers and long-term community members are just a few of the other 14 people to make the most influential list.

The full run-down of Karratha’s most important people will be available for premium subscribers of The West Australian online, via the Pilbara News Facebook page, next Wednesday.