Lorne SES unit recognises long-standing members

LONG-standing members of the VICSES Lorne unit have been honoured at an awards ceremony last week.

The long service awards were presented to members with 20, 10 and five years of service, for both existing and previous members.

Di Solomon joined the SES five years ago and said she had enjoyed the camaraderie of the group.

“I enjoy the fact that we all come from different strokes of life and we come with a single view of what we want the outcome to be and it really levels the playing field for everyone, which is fantastic,” she said.

Ms Solomon had always wanted to join the Navy but the SES gave her an opportunity to join an emergency service and have an opportunity to help the community.

Along with learning a range of practical skills, she has also learnt how to work within a team.

“It’s not a go-solo environment at all,” she said. “You need to be able to work with each other to be able to communicate properly with each other, that’s been a really big skill I’ve learnt.

“I’ve also learnt that if at any stage you do feel uncomfortable, you can ask for help. It’s a really important skill to be able to have.”

 

Pakitu Henry received his award for 10 years of service, originally joining with some of his friends soon after moving to Lorne.

“The reason why I actually joined up is because number one the community, number two I love helping people and number three I enjoyed the camaraderie and the team I was working with, and still do to this day,” he said.

Mr Henry’s highlights during his time in the SES include being able to rescue people and getting them to safety. He has seen how the SES has developed, with more training and qualifications now part of the role, and encouraged anybody thinking about joining the SES to head down there and have a look.

“We’ll show you what we can offer, any questions, even if it’s a silly question, we’ll answer it for you – at the end of the day, you come along here, we’re going to make you feel welcome,” he said.

“We’ve got a unique unit and everyone’s compatible with some sort of person out there in the community; we’d like to see more people.”

Other long service award recipients included current members David McKenzie and Adrian Sleep for 20 years, Phillip Walsh for 10 years, and Paul Bloink, Kevin Diviny, James Staley and Paul Staley for five years.

Previous members Michael Bain and Wayne Bryant were awarded for five years of service.

For more information on joining the SES, head to ses.vic.gov.au