Community first: Wheatbelt employers receive 2023 Volunteer Employer Recognition award for civic focus

The Wheatbelt was well represented at the 2023 Volunteer Employer Recognition Awards, when businesses from around WA were celebrated for their dedication to community and the flexibility they showed volunteer emergency service employees. Narrogin-based internet provider CRISP Wireless was among those to receive a VERA from Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Clem on October 20. “We live in the community — it’s our community,” Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service CEO and bush fire brigade volunteer Leigh Ballard said. “If you’ve got an employee that wants to give back to the community, why wouldn’t you let them go?” CRISP Wireless director and bush fire brigade volunteer Sara Ballard said wanting to support the community in times of emergency was something that required “no second thought”. “I think if the boot was on the other foot and you had a fire or were involved in a car accident and needed help in a remote setting, you would want somebody to drop everything and be there to help you,” she said. “If it’s an emergency, you go.” Ms Ballard hopes word of the award will trigger other workplaces to have discussions about volunteering. “It raises the profile of volunteering to businesses who may not even have thought that some of their staff could be volunteers,” she said. “You don’t go into it for the accolades, it’s to raise the profile and get more people involved in volunteering.” VFRS, SES and bush fire brigade volunteer Annika Keeling said there were many aspects of volunteering, and a place for everyone. “Volunteers go to primary schools and daycares to educate,” she said. “It’s also about community awareness, being out there in the community. “It’s a skill set you can learn that doesn’t cost anything.” CRISP Wireless employee and bush fire brigade volunteer Mykola Kozin said having a supportive employer was important. “The CEO of the company is a firefighter himself,” he said. “It’s really important that people are flexible and also for people to know that no one is pushing you if you volunteer.” AFGRI Equipment and CBH Group in Lake Grace, the Shire of Pingelly, DM Spencer, and LA Lucas and Wagin Mechanical Repairs were also recipients of a 2023 VERA. Five of the seven employees at Wagin Mechanical Repairs, including owner Wagin VFRS captain Cameron Forrest, are emergency service volunteers. “You hope that if you need help someday, somebody is going to be there,” he said. “If it’s something big, we might all go out — that’s five people, and the doors might be closed for a few days. “It’s a cost, but it could mean saving somebody’s life — you can’t put a cost on that.”