By Victoria Stone-Meadows
Cranbourne local Ian Brandon has continued to inspire and help people despite suffering from an illness that would stop most people in their tracks.
Mr Brandon was made a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club of Cranbourne at a special dinner on Tuesday 9 May in recognition of his volunteer and community work.
He said he was very pleased to receive the award and it always amazes him that other people have taken such an interest in his volunteer work.
“It is really humbling,” he said.
“What I do is I get up and try to get through to the end of the day and it’s amazing the way people see me; it’s not how I see myself.”
“I don’t do it for any particular reason and it felt really humbling – when you are in a room full of people doing it for years – it was humbling to be in the room full of people of such community standing.”
Mr Brandon was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) almost 20 years ago but that hasn’t stopped him from working hard to improve other people’s lives as well as his own.
He has been attending rehabilitation classes and groups at Casey RACE to improve his quality of life and gives his time and infectious positivity generously for others at the centre.
Mr Brandon is involved with an All Abilities group, My Life group, children and adult rehabilitation groups and more recently has started a program for rehabilitation members attending Casey Race.
Community engagement co-ordinator at Casey RACE Tori Norris said Mr Brandon has been a constant source of inspiration to the staff and clients of Casey RACE.
“Ian is an inspiration to us all,” she said.
“A warm and welcoming soul who always makes it his mission to take the time to brighten the day of all he comes across.”
Rotary president Gerard Sadler said that Ian meets all the criteria of the Rotary moto “Service above Self” and is a worthy recipient of a Paul Harris Fellow.
It’s not the first time Mr Brandon has had his inspiring nature recognised by the community.
Earlier this year he was nominated for Casey Citizen of the Year at the Casey Council’s Australia Day awards and in 2015 Mr Brandon was named citizen of the year by the Cranbourne Chamber of Commerce.
Mr Brandon, who was unaware of being made a Paul Harris Fellow until the dinner, said he really enjoys what he does and would be doing it even without his MS diagnosis.
“I thought I was going to the Rotary Dinner to give a talk on my community work and the different groups I volunteer with and organise,” he said.
Mr Brandon said it was the people he volunteers with that makes as his hard work worthwhile.
“I go to the pool every day for rehab and I show up and do it, I don’t even think about it and I would do it even if I wasn’t broken.”
“I want to thank everybody involved in what I do,” he said.
“I talk to so many people every day they bring so much to my life; they make my life better and then I make a difference in their life.”
“Each and every one brightens my day so it is definitely a mutually beneficial situation.”
