In March we profiled someone who, 12 months later, is one of the most important people in the state. Dr Lucy Reed is in charge of the Emergency Department at the Launceston General Hospital. She helped steer the hospital back into provisional emergency medicine training accreditation over her two-and-a-half years (at the time) on the job.

Originally from the UK, as an expedition doctor she has worked everywhere from Morocco to Mongolia, New Zealand and Nepal. Dr Reed is also a mother of two, and she described life with her family as a "crazy adventure" complete with animals, a berry farm and the occasional surfing trip.

She told us she moved to Tasmania to take on the challenging job because she wanted to make a difference. "We are in a really privileged position, particularly in emergency. We do a lot of good and I think we forget to celebrate that sometimes," she said.

Read about Dr Lucy Reed here.

Throughout the first half of last year we were profiling a group of selfless Tasmanians: older people who chose to forego a peaceful retirement to raise their grandchildren, for whatever reason.

Newly remarried Frank and Geraldine had both nursed former spouses through sickness until death and then found each other.

They saved their funds and planned their retirement getaway; the caravan sat in the driveway. Yet this dream was not theirs to have.

A phone call from Tasmania's Child Protection Services changed the course of their older lives.

"Child protection rang up from Hobart and said the kids were not going back to their mum. We had an hour to make our decision about whether to take them on," Frank said.

Raising grandchildren comes with significant challenges compared to parenthood at a younger stage of life, not least the difficulty in accessing government support.

But as Frank said, "You put your life on hold, you re-adjust your lifestyle, you raise the kiddies, and you enjoy it."

Read the first story in the series here.

In May, a 14-year-old from George Town got the opportunity to travel to New Zealand to compete in a ten-day fishing competition, after he caught a mammoth 114kg southern bluefish tuna.

The catch was only three kilograms off the world record.

The talented young fisherman, Lachlin Hicks, found his passion for the water as a child, when he would trail his father's footsteps wherever he went - on and off the boat.

His dad, Paul Hicks, is the president of game fishing club of Northern Tasmania

"From there on in, we've just always fished together all our lives. Whether it be marlin, trout, tuna, mako, whatever there is about, he's tagged along with me," Mr Hicks said.

Read the story here.

In June last year a hotel opened in Launceston that was, at the time, the first of its kind in the world: Change Overnight.

Change Overnight, based in York House, allows visitors to choose one of eight causes to support for each night of their stay, from 210 breakfasts for orphans in India, to protecting 10 square metres of Tasmanian rainforest.

The hotel was the first of its type in the world when the idea was conceived by S. Group directors Sam Haberle and Tara Howell two years ago. They then combined with the York House developer and two other business partners to make it a reality.

"From a pure profitability point of view, it is actually harder as a business model. However, we have made sure that our level of accommodation and our guest experience is superior, it's high end, which means that we can actually charge a quality rate at that point. It means we can actually afford to do it," Mr Haberle said.

Read our preview of Change Overnight before it opened here.

In July the Tasmania Police search and rescue team executed a daring rescue at the Cataract Gorge, after Ralphie the dog tumbled off a cliff face.

The seven-year-old kelpie-cross-greyhound was believed to be chasing a kangaroo when he plunged five metres and could not be reached.

Owner Ross Harrison searched for Ralphie for five hours before he was able to locate him. He immediately ran home to grab a ladder.

"I was about to climb down the ladder and my wife pulled stumps, she said 'I'm not losing two of you'," Mr Harrison said.

Instead, Tasmania Police Senior Constables Simon Triffitt and Leighton Riggal took over the rescue mission.

They were able to pull Ralphie safely back up to solid ground by putting him in a bag.

Immediately after being rescued Ralphie stopped for an extensive drink in the many puddles at the top of the cliff and went home with his doting owners unharmed.

Read all about it here.

On August 17 it was official: the spectacular new Riverbend Park was open for families to enjoy.

The park has two of the largest pieces of play equipment in Australia, in the Sky Walk and the confluence net, plus swings, diggers, sand pits, a wheelchair carousel, a water-play area, musical instruments, outdoor table tennis, see-saws and a full-size sports court, split across four themed zones.

As City of Launceston general manager Michael Stretton said, the ten-year, $9 million project was a "fantastic community asset for Launceston ... one of the best regional parks in Australia."

Parents told us their children had been up since 6am with excitement on the day they were finally allowed on the grounds to try out the snazzy new play equipment.

Reminisce on the park's opening day with the photo gallery here.

A month later, an all-abilities carousel was installed at Royal Park. The $50,000 for the carousel was raised over two years by local organisation Just Like Jack, and it means people with a wheelchair can fit the wheelchair safely to the carousel and go for a spin.

Also from August, it's worth revisiting this Q&A with the creator of the Launceston Memes Facebook page, for a light-hearted read.

In September we put the spotlight on a remarkable group of Launceston women: the nuns of the Carmelite Monastery in West Launceston, who spend the majority of their time in deep prayer for the good of the city.

The nuns live a cloistered life: completely cut off from the rest of the world. They interact with their congregation the other side of a metal lattice: an unmistakable presence, but always unseen. Aged between 33 and 90, the newest sister joined the monastery only two years ago; the longest-serving has been with the order since 1948.

A parish member described their presence is an incredible favour on Launceston. By communing with God on behalf of the whole populace - generating so much spiritual energy between the nine of them - the Carmelite nuns lift all of us up, she said.

It is, in the words of Mother Teresa Benedicta, the "hidden praying heart of our city".

Read more about the Carmelite nuns of West Launceston here.

In October the Young Tasmanian of the Year was awarded to a deserving recipient: Launceston's Will Smith.

The 26-year-old police officer returned from the Syria-Lebanon border last year, where he had risked his life to set up soccer teams for refugee children who had little else to distract them from the years-long civil war.

The Syrian refugee children were not allowed to play sports in the street as they were considered second-class citizens within Lebanon: one of Mr Smith's biggest challenges was convincing the local authorities to allow all children to play the international game.

"We had to pay off people and organise grounds that were away from the public areas so people weren't offended by the Syrians playing, and in areas where the army and other rebel groups would not see what we were doing," he said.

But children would travel for hours to participate in the games he set up. They would be outfitted in donated shoes, socks and shirts, and the games would commence.

The organisation he founded, called JCP, still sponsors local soccer players to continue the program after Mr Smith returned home to Launceston.

Read more about Will Smith's activities in Lebanon here.

In November Launceston got its own squad of valkyries.

The group of volunteer women signed up to patrol live music venues and events to help prevent unwanted sexual advances, intimidation, violence and sexual assault.

The program - known as Valkyrie - is one of the first of its type in Australia.

It includes four female Tasmanian musicians carrying out training with sexual assault victim support service Laurel House to identify concerning behaviour and methods of intervening.

"There's been a few too many incidents of late, locally and Tasmania-wide," member Sarah Triffitt said.

"It's not just about female victims, anyone that's alone and vulnerable can be a victim of the issues we're having at live music."

So Ms Triffit and her friends took the proactive step of doing something about it. They have since been out and about at Festivale, various gigs around Launceston, and an all-ages launch concert in Civic Square.

Read about the program here.

It's not to find happiness during the most wonderful time of the year, but one Scottsdale pub owner took the festive cheer one step further.

Doona de Nooyer got out of bed at 6am for most of 2019 to transform the Lords Hotel function room into a magical Christmas wonderland.

She and her husband, Rick de Nooyer, work 17-hour days between the pub and a candy shop they also own in Launceston, but she was determined to put the work in to make something special for the community.

The wonderland was also a fundraiser for men's mental health charities, and some who saw it were so moved they donated up to $1000 towards the de Nooyer's chosen cause.

"Rick and I work very well together," she said. "We do these silly things and people don't understand why. I don't really understand either, we just do it. I just love to give, and so does Rick."

Read more here.

While fires raged in the Fingal Valley in January, the community came together to save the town.

Take Catherine Bean, 17, who gave up her school holidays to volunteer in the control centre.

She was too young to be allowed on an active firefront - but after being member of the town's fire brigade since age 11, she wasn't going to sit at home either.

Sophie Loane and Bradley McGill, both second-generation TFS volunteers, said they signed up to be trained as volunteers without a second thought.

Like many young people in Fingal, their parents were also volunteers. In Fingal, like many small towns across Tasmania, it's just a part of the community spirit to learn how to defend your town.

Read about Catherine Bean here.

Read about the Fingal Tasmania Fire Service volunteers here.

Last month Kirsten Ritchie was one step closer to her dream of providing sleeping pods for Launceston's homeless.

Ms Ritchie is an ordinary woman who single-handedly started up free barbecues on weekday evenings at Royal Park for the homeless.

Three years later, she has other volunteers to help out and many of the city's businesses donate food to the cause.

But she's still not satisfied: now Ms Ritchie is working towards setting up a place where the homeless can stay warm and safe during winter.

With the purchase of two shipping containers, 10 sleeping pods and 20 lockers, plus a partnership with AtWork Australia to offer further support to guests, she only needs to raise enough for insulation, electrical work, and plumbing for the ambitious plan to come to fruition.

Read more here.