Mrs Turner, of Wingham, was presented with her award by mayor Paul Hogan at the Australia Day celebrations held this year at the Manning Entertainment Centre.

There were three nominees. The others were Graham Brown and Michael Diessel. Mrs Turner told the crowd of around 250 that she was humbled to accept the award.

"This is for the 90 volunteers who work for the Riding for Disabled,'' she told the audience.

Mrs Turner later told the Times she was 'stunned,' to win the award.

"It's a tremendous group and I couldn't do what I do if it wasn't for that group behind me,'' she added.

Mrs Turner said she has "no idea" of how many hours she puts in a week for RDA.

"I'm two days a week fulltime. But there are other things too.''

Mrs Turner and her husband came to this area 18 years ago.

"My husband liked fishing and I liked the climate. That's why we moved here,'' she explained.