Echuca resident Margaret Shinns is of the belief that in life, you have to give back.

But when the Echuca Regional Health volunteer received a special honour for her dedication to healthcare and her community, it was the health service’s turn to give back.

Mrs Shinns was added to the Health Volunteer Honour Roll at the 2025 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards during a special ceremony in Melbourne on Wednesday, November 26.

The nod was a well-deserved recognition of Mrs Shinns’ 35-year dedication to ERH, being the heart and soul of volunteering and fundraising through the Ladies Auxiliary.

In 2012, the ERH board awarded Mrs Shinns with a life governorship, and this latest recognition is another testament to her impact and passion.

Mrs Shinns has been volunteering for over three decades and in that time has directly impacted and grown ERH into the state-of-the-art health centre it is today.

She was a founding member of the ERH Ladies Auxiliary in 1990 and has helped raise over $250,000 for ERH to purchase all the new patient beds during the significant redevelopment of the health service a decade ago.

Mrs Shinns has been well recognised for her volunteer work, receiving the Echuca Citizen of the Year award at the Australia Day awards in January 2015, which recognised her contributions across Echuca Red Cross, Echuca-Moama RSL Women’s Auxiliary, and Meals and Books on Wheels.

“I'm very honoured (with the accolade), it is a big thing to be recognised, but I’m a little embarrassed,” Mrs Shinns said.

“I'm a believer in you have to give back, you can't just take in life.

“We're very privileged to live in this wonderful country, and I'd like to give back because you can't in your lifetime just keep taking, there’s a balance.

“Me doing the volunteering is just a habit now, it’s simply what I do, it’s what I like to do.”

Mrs Shins reflected on her time volunteering with ERH and highlighted why it was important for people to continue paying it forward, both for themselves and their community.

“I, like many people, started volunteering when the children were little in kindergarten, then school, then sports, and you'll find that many people, especially in the country, start early and work your way through,” she said.

“Nobody volunteers for what they get out of it, it’s more about what you put in.

“It's more of the self-gratification of doing something and giving back, as opposed to the awards and that kind of stuff.

“I don't think I’ll stop any time soon, it keeps me going.

“Otherwise you just sit home and feel sorry for yourself. It fills in your days, and you get to see people and connect with them.”

ERH is currently seeking new volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering at ERH, contact volunteer co-ordinator Lisa Ellerton at volunteers@erh.org.au or phone 03 5485 5434.

For more information, visit erh.org.au/volunteers/erh-volunteering-program/

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