In a city where change seems as swift and inevitable as the seasons, there seem to be few things from the past that Canberrans can cling to for comfort.
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That's why the sight of Alan Jessop, sitting straight-backed and impassive with his Salvation Army collection box as shoppers stream past him in the Canberra Centre, is such a welcome one.
For almost a quarter of Canberra's life - 24½ years, to be precise - Mr Jessop has sat collecting donations in Civic, and has collected around $3 million in that time.
His familiar face has now been immortalised in a portrait by local artist Barbara Van Der Linden, as part of the Faces of Canberra Centenary project.
The painting, showing Mr Jessop in his usual pose, was unveiled on Wednesday in the Canberra Centre, with the subject pronouncing his portrayal ''quite lovely''.
The project began as a planned 10 portraits, and has since grown to include 30 faces that have defined Canberra over the years.
Since Mr Jessop's portrait was posted on the project's website, it has received by far the most ''likes'' and comments - a situation that Mr Jessop has taken in his stride.
He has, after all, seen enough change in the city for the phenomenon of social media to be little more than a sign of time marching on.
After retiring to Canberra with his wife, Joyce, he began volunteering on Saturdays outside what was then Grace Brothers in the bus interchange, in the days when the shops closed at noon. ''Then they closed Brothers when they found that it was full of asbestos, and the traffic that used to gravitate from Grace Brothers to David Jones disappeared, so I decided I'd relocate to Bunda Street outside the City Markets,'' he said.
''The first day I collected there, I met that many more people and I collected double the amount I was collecting in the old spot. And I worked until 3pm and tripled the takings of what I used to collect.''
He eventually took over Thursdays and Fridays in Civic as other army volunteers moved on, and has been a regular fixture ever since. ''Three days a week and it's been very enjoyable work too,'' he said. ''The only thing that's not so good is when some of the old people disappear, people that you've made friends with, and you've had for years coming along, and suddenly you don't see them any more and you know they've passed on to somewhere else.''
Mr Jessop has also triggered concerned calls to Salvation Army headquarters on the days when he was absent and got positive feedback passed on by Canberra Centre staff.
Peter Barclay, the proprietor of King O'Malleys Irish Pub, said Mr Jessop's consistency had inspired more young people to donate to charity. He said that when the pub opened on New Year's Eve, it asked for a donation to the Salvation Army instead of a door charge. The pub regularly collected more than $10,000 on those nights, with many people choosing to donate $20 or $50 a head.
For his part, Mr Jessop said he had no plans to change his routine. ''Really it's been a good 24 years and we've done a lot of good work for the Salvation Army, and I'll still keep going until I conk out, I suppose. When that will be I don't know.''
The exhibition of all the portraits opens on May 9 at M16 Artspace in Griffith and runs until May 26.
