THE Tweed celebrated equality on Thursday night at the annual Tweed Shire Access and Inclusion Awards, with 37 nominees in the running for awards across a range of areas.

Karen Collins, from Tweed Shire Council, said the awards were designed to get the whole community thinking about inclusion and acceptance.

“The whole purpose of the awards is to draw in as broad a section of the community as possible to think about an accessible community,” Ms Collins said.

She said everyone had a role to play for inclusion and the awards helped to highlight that.

Five-time World Champion Para-Triathlete Bill Chaffey was a special guest speaker and opened the awards. Australia’s Disability Discrimination Commissioner from 2005 to 2014, Graeme Innes, was also in attendance.

A highlight of the night was the presentation of three feature films involving Kingscliff film-maker Tim Morrison, including his own story, titled My Life.

Mr Morrison, a volunteer with the Tweed Shire Council and mentor to others in his involvement with council’s Run Project, provided a speech to the 240-strong crowd in attendance.

“The film I’ve been doing (My Life) sends a message to people with disabilities and shows what we can do,” Mr Morrison said.

“I want to say thanks to the Tweed Shire Council for all they do and a big thanks to Bill Chaffey for sharing his story on how much of a wonderful life we can all have.”

The annual awards celebrate achievement and innovation in building an accessible community through the actions of individuals, community groups and businesses.