The Great Southern Centre for Outdoor Recreation Excellence has welcomed their inaugural board chairperson.

Angela Simpson, currently Regional Manager Community and Corporate at the Great Southern Development Commission, will head up the board of the new advocacy group. The Great Southern Centre for Outdoor Recreation Excellence (GSCORE) was established to promote the growth of the outdoor recreation industry. Its mission is to provide leadership to the outdoor recreation industry in order to create a vibrant and sustainable outdoor recreation sector through the provision of innovative training, business support and strategic planning services.

“The outdoor and recreation industry has the opportunity to generate development on many fronts, including tourism and jobs,” said Ms Simpson. “The Great Southern is an amazing part of the world and we want to encourage locals and visitors to make the most of the region’s stunning natural landscape.”

A keen kayaker Ms Simpson says she consciously wanted to make the outdoor lifestyle part of her family’s identity as a way of handing on her passion for the outdoors. “Outdoor recreation is something I have always enjoyed doing with my family and it has become part of our lives. I believe this is how we foster a love for the amazing outdoors in the next generation.”

Angela and her family return to the Great Southern after a career working in Western Australia’s north, in Queensland and countries such as Fiji, the Philippines and Solomon Islands.

GSCORE is a joint initiative of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, the Great Southern Development Commission and the Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It has been partially funded through Royalties for Regions for a three-year implementation phase (2017 – 2020).