HALL OF FAME

What is your role and how long have you been with the NSW SES?

I am a Deputy Team Leader at the NSW SES Coffs Harbour Unit and I have been volunteering in the NSW SES since enrolling when I was at the age of 16 years old.

Why do you love volunteering for the NSW SES?

I love being a NSW SES volunteer because I have always wanted to help the community and the best way I found to help the community at a time in need was to volunteer for the SES and I'm a very outdoorsy type of person and I love to get down and dirty and get the job done.

As a young person why did you decide to volunteer with the NSW SES?

I have always wanted to help out our community in any way I could, I also got involved as my older brother, Tyson Sellings-Bibby is also a NSW SES volunteer within Coffs Harbour City Unit. Seeing him go through and start training to be safe within the community in a time of need gave me such an inspiration to do so myself.

What types of opportunities are there for young NSW SES volunteers?

As a young member of the NSW SES, I have found that you can achieve many things such as pride in helping our community, achieving work related skills for employment opportunities, gaining certificates of accreditation in NSW SES training courses such as Storm and Water, Flood Rescue and Road Crash Rescue training. I know of many NSW SES volunteers who have carried on training with what they have learnt in the NSW SES into permanent positions in the workforce.

Have you been involved in responding to any major weather events?

Yes, I have responded to many major weather events, over the past 4 and a bit years. I have had the opportunity to use the skills that I have gained within NSW SES when attending to requests for assistance from the community. These include, rescuing people from flood waters, to tarping roofs with height safety systems and filling sand bags full of sand.

How do you balance your social life, work and study commitments with volunteering?

I'm lucky as everything I do is very flexible and it fits into my weekly routine. NSW SES training is only Tuesday nights and sometimes weekends (not often) and my employer is pretty flexible with my volunteering which I am very grateful for. When I was studying not only my HSC (year 12) but also a year of University, I found that NSW SES were very flexible with it as my studying time was within school hours.

What is the most memorable experience you’ve had during your time with the NSW SES?

A couple of memorable moments within the NSW SES is not only meeting the members within our unit in Coffs Harbour but also meeting other members within other units around the State.

Another highlight with my experience within the NSW SES is becoming a Youth Mentor for the new program which myself and a few other young members have integrated with in the NSW SES. I also became a Deputy Team Leader and have completed a leadership course. The experience I have had within the NSW SES is something I wouldn’t have ever encountered if I hadn’t of joined following my older brothers footsteps.