LUKE Sutton was born in Wrexham – the largest city in North Wales surrounded by rural and agricultural regions.

The city steeped in history is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley near the border with Cheshire in England.

“Those who know of it will know we have the best football team in the world (soccer, sorry)," he said.

The club was founded in 1864 and is the third oldest professional in the UK and the oldest in Wales.

Luke has lived in Beechworth for most of this year with a move from Myrtleford after living there for some time.

What do you do workwise?

I am an advertising consultant, and I have recently taken on a new role at North East Media (NEM).

NEM is an independent group which owns and publishes print and digital media, among them but not least - the Ovens and Murray Advertiser, Wangaratta Chronicle, Myrtleford Times and Regional Extra.

What brought you to your role/career?

In 2023, I graduated from The University of Chester with a BA(Hons) in Business and Marketing Management.

The very next day I took a 23-hour connected flight to Sydney, Australia and the rest is history.

I travelled all around Australia until I was halted by a beautiful town named Beechworth, and more importantly, my beautiful partner.

Ever since I have fallen in love with the community and knew I would be brought to a role that allowed me to be right in the middle of it.

What do you love about your work?

People, and getting to have interactions with the community around me.

I’m a people person and love a good chat.

What do you do in the community?

I am the under 13s football coach (soccer I mean, again) at Myrtleford Savoy Soccer Club.

Football is in my blood, and no matter where I was in the world I’ll always find a way to coach and play the beautiful game.

Is there an important community issue that you think needs addressing?

Men not speaking up for women.

It has become too normalised for men to make passing derogatory or degrading remarks in conversations with ‘the boys’ about women, and it is route one from a passing remark into harassment and assault.

Men need to speak up and call people out for those comments - it is not okay, and it never has been.

What would you do to solve change, improve that situation?

Stand up against it.

Letting someone know that is not okay can help prevent them from ever believing that it is right.

What do you see as one of the most important current world issues?

Violence towards women.

The rates for sexual assault towards women in Australia and the rest of the world is too high, it should be zero.

No assault towards a woman is justifiable, yet every woman has a story, and that must change for the next generation.

If the person you would most like to meet or knew, came to Indigo Shire (past or present), or was already here, who would that be, what would you show them, and why?

The only person alive I have any desire to meet is my beautiful partner, who is a Beechworth local born and raised.

So, I guess in a second, I would say my brothers, and would take them to The Ageing Frog Fish Bar, which is worth a 23-hour connected flight for.

What book are you reading?

I'm not a great reader and prefer to spend my free time listening to true crime podcasts over reading.