Prince George, B.C, – He has been a member of the community for 33 years, and tonight, has been named the Prince George Citizen of the Year.

 

Andy Beesley has worked with the Prince George Crisis Intervention Centre, including 5 years as a volunteer crisis counsellor. He helped create the Prince George Teen Crisis Line.

 

As Manager of the Cariboo Cougars Major Midget hockey team for six years, he has also managed several BC Hockey Best Ever teams.   He was the Volunteer Chair of the U-16 BC Provincial Hockey Championship in Prince George and has trained hundreds of coaches in BC Hockey’s “Speak Out” program to help prevent Child Abuse and Bullying and played an instrumental role in the formation of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program (D.A.R.E.) in Prince George, a program which has been copied in several other communities.

 

He has volunteered to sit on tribunals to mediate disputes between social assistance recipients and social service staff and has trained more than 100 volunteers to do the same work. Andy has also served on the City of Prince George’s Social Grants Committee, the Ethics Committee at Prince George Regional Hospital and was a member of the team that led to Prince George winning the bid for the 2015 Canada Winter Games

 

He has been involved in several theatrical productions in the City, with lead roles in a number of amateur musical productions. His diverse experience and has made him a popular workshop trainer and Coach.