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President's Newsletter July 2015

by | July 8, 2016
President's Newsletter July 2015

For the month of July Charlie has been enjoying a well-earned break. During the month we commenced working on implementation of our strategic plan - Building a Sustainable Future - with objectives covering Volunteer Recognition, Advocacy and Representation, Enhanced Reputation and Growing Membership. 

Please remember that the Volunteers Association is funded through donations, bequests and raffles. Our raffle sales make up the majority of our funding which is used to directly support our members through scholarships, unit grants and the welfare fund. Our raffles operate within strict legislated guidelines. Remember if you receive a call and are unsure about its legitimacy you should ask to speak to the caller's supervisor or you can call 1300 707 344. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission recently launched the scamwatch website which contains information to help protect you from scams. 

The Volunteers Association also had representatives at both the Ku-ring-gai and Bathurst Town Hall meetings where the Commissioner spoke about the recently released Ernst and Young report and what this means for the future. The opportunity to speak with the Commissioner and ask questions online and from the floor was invaluable. An email was sent to members with a link to the report, if you did not receive it or have missed it, contact your region for the link. 

Fuel Cards

The Volunteers Association has recently been provided a number of fuel cards with the intent of helping out members who may need an extra bit of support to say thank you for all the work that you do for our communities. During July a transparent and equitable process was run allowing Units to nominate a worthy recipient with cards to be distributed in early August. 

Review Of raffle sales

Many of you may not know that the East Coast Low of April 2015 had a massive impact on the operation of the Volunteers Association. During this period all raffle sales were ceased for a period of time and then gradually reintroduced - this significantly impacted the ability of the Volunteers Association to raise funds. The Volunteers Association joined with our Raffle operators and the NSW SES to review what occurred and has made a number of recommendations on how to stop the same issues from occurring again in the future. 

Australian Emergency management vounteers Forum - New Online Leadership training

Peter Lalor is our representative at the Australian Emergency Management Volunteers Forum that has been working hard to deliver a new Online Introduction to Leadership Program for all emergency management volunteers. 

This online training is 45-60 minutes and can be done at your own pace. It is full of useful learnings and tools to help you discover and grow your leadership capabilities. 

This online training covers basic leadership principles and approaches and provides take away tools to help put your skills into practice. 

Follw this link for further information. 

Out And About

During July we visited units and spoke about the work the Volunteers Association does in supporting our members through scholarships, unit grants and the welfare fund. It was a pleasure to meet with so many volunteers from Ballina, Broadwater, Lismore, Mullumbimby, Woodburn, Bankstown and Sydney Southern Region Headquarters Unit. 

Contact your Region Representative if you would like a visit from the Volunteers Association. 

Help us Better Understand Us

A lot of the work that the VA does behind the scenes is reliant on up-to-date information about what our volunteers do, how they do it and the time it takes- both when we are operational and when we are preparing. 

The work that we did for the Better Tax Review submission relied on old data. We are working with a group of students from Sydney University to update this information. To do this we are conducting a quick survey of how much time you spend doing different tasks with the NSW SES. 

Follow this link to complete the survey. 

Rural File Service Association Conference

Representatives from the Volunteers Association attended the Rural Fire Service Association's conference in Mudgee. There was a fantastic display of historical vehicles, trade stands and presentations from speakers covering cyclone responses, bushfire modelling, safe driving, youth engagement, mental health and wellbeing and incident management accreditation. 

There were lot of notes taken that will be used to help plan a successful conference for the Volunteers Association in 2016. 

Heads Up

Volunteer Memorial Service Sunday 11 October 2015 at 11:00a.m at the Domain, Sydney. Parking is at a premium, so plan to arrive early if coming by vehicle. More information will be available soon. 

Planning for the 2016 Volunteers Association Conference has commenced. 

Vale

CORKORAN, Peter                                             Sutherland Unit/Sydney Southern Region 

THOMAS, Peter (Blinky)                                     Manilla Unit 

LAMBEY, Oliver                                                   Aberdeen Unit 


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