They say good neighbours can make all the difference, but Jason Buchanan reckons it’s just part of everyday life.
The local resident and General Manager at Examiner Newspapers was recently nominated for the City of Gosnells Neighbour of the Year Award by the family living next door. While he didn’t take out the main award, he received a certificate of appreciation at a ceremony held on Thursday, March 26.
He said the nomination came as a surprise.
“Well, I feel that I haven’t done anything really special to achieve such a nomination,” he said.
“What I do should be a standard of how you treat your neighbours.”
Jason’s support began when the family next door, a young household with two children, started facing issues in the area. With the husband working away on FIFO, the mother was often home alone with the kids.
“There have been some local drug addicts in the area who have been sort of terrorising the neighbourhood,” he said.
“I said to the wife next door, I don’t want you and your children to feel unsafe… just give me a call if you’re ever scared, and I’ll come over.”
Jason and his wife shared their contact details and made it clear they were close by if needed. What followed was a simple but significant neighbourly connection.
The family, who are Muslim, later shared food with them during Ramadan. Jason returned the gesture by giving the children footballs.
“I’ve just been a supportive neighbour, looked out for them, and they’ve been very nice in return too,” he said.
At one point, Jason spoke to a group of youths in the area who had been causing issues in the neighbourhood.
“I said to these kids… why don’t you take it on yourselves to protect this neighbourhood,” he said.
“I said, you could be like little heroes… and they actually haven’t had any trouble from them since.”
Jason believes these kinds of actions should not be seen as extraordinary.
“We live in a big, ugly world with lots of things going on… but if you start… you look after your neighbours, you look after your friends, you look after your families,” he said.
“Don’t let your neighbours be strangers. You never know when you just might need them.”
He said receiving the certificate was appreciated, but not the reason for what he did.
“It was nice to be recognised… but I don’t think what I did was anything particularly special. This is just how I operate,” he said.
Jason also pointed out that stories like this are not always visible.
“We only hear the negative… all these positive stories… reinforce the community and give us a better sense of wellbeing overall,” he said.
His message to others going through a tough time is to “reach out to your neighbours. Communicate with them. There’s strength in numbers.”
