CAROLYN HORE

Ms JODIE HARRISON (Charlestown)—Carolyn Hore will be celebrating 59 years working at the Newcastle Permanent this year, and the fixture of the Perm's Kotara Branch is affectionately known by her coworkers and customers as "Nanna Carolyn". Starting work at the Perm in December 1962, Carolyn has witnessed extraordinary changes to the way we do our banking—decimal currency, plastic notes, gold coins, plastic cards, computers, the ATM, the first credit cards, account numbers, the internet, BPAY, phone banking, BSBs, electronic transactions and EFTPOS. Carolyn told the Newcastle Weekly, "When I first started, there were no computers, decimal currency was newly-introduced and ATMs hadn't been invented yet. We used to have to hand count money and hand write about 200 cheques a day." She credits her longevity in the role to willingness to adapt and embrace changes, to continually learn and to teach customers. The last year has seen Carolyn and her Perm colleagues help customers adapt to the realities of COVID-19. She told the Weekly, "When COVID-19 hit, we were so busy as we worked to help set up customers to use digital banking and cards for their banking and online purchasing." Congratulations to Carolyn on her long and successful career.

A Community Recognition Notice is an opportunity for an MP to submit a short statement praising the work of an individual or group in the local community. If you have any ideas about people I can recognise with a Community Recognition Notice, please email and let me know!