General News
26 October, 2023
Lismore SES’ work honoured
MEMBER for Wannon Dan Tehan has recognised volunteer and sporting groups for their community work at last Friday’s awards ceremony, including three members of Lismore’s SES unit.
MEMBER for Wannon Dan Tehan has recognised volunteer and sporting groups for their community work at last Friday’s awards ceremony, including three members of Lismore’s SES unit.
The ceremony, held in Mortlake, saw the SES unit receive recognition in the group category of the Volunteers Awards.
Guest speaker at the awards was Mick Murphy OAM, a recognised member of the Mortlake community.
VICSES Lismore Unit volunteer members Sanjan Dawson, Renae Featherstone and Grayson Tanner accepted the award on the night.
Ms Featherstone joined Dalesford SES in 2017 before transferring to Lismore in 2018, while Mr Tanner joined in 2019 and Mr Dawson in 2020.
All three are part of the Lismore Unit Management team and undertook significant leadership roles to support the Skipton community, which was impacted by severe flooding in October last year.
Mr Dawson initially took on the role of Incident Controller and remained in post until an Incident Control Centre was established.
He then took on the role of the Division Commander for the rest of the operation.
Mr Tanner worked during the day and took on the night-time operation of the evacuation centre in Skipton, where he cared for those who could not return home.
Ms Featherstone spent the first day triaging requests for assistance from the community and recorded extensive flood intelligence, shared by Victoria Police, CFA brigades, and observers upstream to monitor vulnerable properties, road closures, and obstructions.
Mr Tehan said Mr Dawson, Ms Featherstone and Mr Tanner represent a new generation of SES volunteers.
“Their commitment to community wellbeing, self-sacrifice, and willingness to take on leadership challenges in such a significant flood event, is worthy of broader recognition and bodes well for the future of the Lismore SES Unit,” he said.
“The community thanks them for their extraordinary work to protect the Skipton community in its moment of need and recognises their ongoing commitment and contribution to community wellbeing.”
Mr Tehan said “these awards are a very special event in my calendar, as they allow me to thank the community and show my appreciation.
“The Volunteer Awards are an opportunity to recognise the volunteers and show them how much I value their contribution to the community through their volunteering,” he said.
“It is also a fabulous opportunity to showcase volunteers’ great work in our community.
“This year, I had a tremendous number of applications, and I was delighted to read about the individuals and groups who have inspired and promoted the spirit of volunteerism, who, through their time and effort, have helped make our local community a better place.”