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Shellharbour City Unit
NSW SES provides me an outlet where I can forget the stresses of my day job and enjoy the sense of satisfaction that comes with volunteering and helping others.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your role within NSW SES?
My day job is in dairy distribution and logistics with a large dairy processor. My role within NSW SES is a Senior Operator – Field. I am essentially one of the people that can be found out in all types of weather. I climb on roofs to help locate storm damage and I can be found with a chainsaw in my hand cutting up a tree that might be blocking access. I am there to assist members of the community in their time of need before, during and after storm events.
Why did you join the NSW SES?
I enjoy helping people. I have a can-do attitude and will always try to learn how to do something to enable me to do things myself. I saw NSW SES as a great place to enhance and utilise my skills and helping others at the same time.
NSW SES also provides me an outlet where I can forget the stresses of my day job and enjoy the sense of satisfaction that comes with volunteering and helping others.
What is your favourite part about being a member of the NSW State Emergency Service?
The people! Volunteers are amazing people. There is a sense of pride that comes with volunteering and having a group of like-minded people come together to train, learn and help others is pretty amazing. We are a diverse group at our unit, that come from many different walks of life but are all there for the same reason – to help!
What are the various skills you have learnt along the way?
On my journey towards becoming a Senior Operator, I have learnt many things and taken part in many courses.
Stand-outs for me would be a weekend of 4WD training, undertaking an intensive course to become a chainsaw operator, learning the safest and most efficient way of dealing with damage caused by storms, floods and tsunamis and most importantly, upskilling my people management abilities to enable me to lead teams more effectively in various situations.
What advice would you give to others that are thinking to join?
NSW SES is more than climbing on roofs and getting wet in the rain. There are so many roles and functions for a volunteer to be involved with and so many skills you can learn along the way. If you are thinking about it, then you are already interested – you have nothing to lose!
Thinking about becoming a volunteer like Tim but not sure what you'd like to do?
Learn more out about our various Volunteering Roles
