General News
19 May, 2023
Front and centre of community support
THE SES is like a second family for Horsham volunteer Jordan Bush, and he and his colleagues are delighted to be front and centre of National Volunteer Week with their Wear Orange Wednesday campaign. "We place WOW Day in the middle of volunteer week...
THE SES is like a second family for Horsham volunteer Jordan Bush, and he and his colleagues are delighted to be front and centre of National Volunteer Week with their Wear Orange Wednesday campaign.
"We place WOW Day in the middle of volunteer week every year," he said.
"It's one of the few times we thank our SES volunteers, and we're trying to do as much as we can to show how grateful we are."
The Horsham unit boasts 33 members, and in the past 12 months they have dealt with almost 200 requests for assistance - equal to about 2000 volunteer hours.
"Being a staff member means a lot," said Jordan.
"We're very much here for our community, and we like to consider ourselves the agency of choice because of how broad we are.
"SES signifies home to me in a real sense. The members come here to form a bond with other people and get to know their community - to save lives and help others while they're at it.
"I joined six years ago for the school leadership program. The minute I started, I stuck with it and loved every bit of it.
"We do everything from emergency response to high-angle rescue in the Grampians and simply cutting a tree off the road. So there's a broad range. There is a role for everyone in SES."
Will Taylor joined a year ago to gain new skills and donate his time.
On his first callout he worked with a group that rescued a hiker.
"We had a rock climber about 15 metres out in the Mount Hollow near the Grampians," he said. "I ended up taking them on a backpack stretcher.
"I think it's just a good way to channel your efforts to do some good stuff."