As one of the city's ambassadors, she's part of a team working out of the newly-redecorated and upgraded Ballarat Information Centre located in the Ballarat Town Hall.

Donnie was working as a volunteer for the City prior to the opening of the new centre.

She was at St Martin's for 32 years as a teacher, but won't admit to being 'Ballarat through-and-through' as she's 'only been here 35 years.'

"But my great-great grandparents, one pair on both sides, migrated here in the late 1850s," she says.

"I feel as though I've come back to where our Australian roots started from."

Donnie says whenever she and her partner travel, history is their bent, and it enables her to bring that passion back to her work for the City of Ballarat.

She finds a particular pleasure in uncovering the lesser-known parts of Ballarat's past, such as the mining activity that took place on the escarpment above the more famous goldfields below.

"When people want a bit more than Sovereign Hill but still find out the history of gold in Ballarat, to be able to recommend things to do as a tourist, such as Doug Bradby's Diggers' Trails, when you've experienced them yourself - to do that as an ambassador is really good," Donnie says.

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"There are lots of other things to discover: you could do tours on the history of the businesses in town... there is scope for lots of things to do."

Donnie Davidson says the Ballarat Information Centre is a place for locals to use as well as visitors, citing her U3A photography course group finding helpful information about Ballarat's statuary collection in the centre. In fact, it was how she became an ambassador.

Ballarat mayor Samantha McIntosh says the new information centre is a tribute to the volunteers, and to the long history of the city.

"It's flanked in Indigenous art which we're very proud of and tells so many stories, 50,000 plus years of stories being told by local Indigenous families," Ms McIntosh said.

Ms McIntosh says she's also proud of the way in which the volunteers have come through the process of change, following the City of Ballarat's decision to end its service agreement with Visit Ballarat and bring tourism marketing services back in-house.

"There's been a lot change, especially the management structure. Before there was a separate from council volunteer body; now they'll be working directly with us.

"That close model will be of benefit. Without the silos and separation, it makes a much cleaner delivery, and makes it easier to share information about Ballarat."