The South West Volunteer Forum was an opportunity to say thank to volunteers for their commitment and for the sacrifices they make to support their community and state through their service to CFA.
Our volunteers heard from guest speakers and had the opportunity to walk around expo-style information stands which covered a variety of issues related to sustainable volunteering and brigade viability aimed at supporting you to support your brigade.
Guest speaker Brett de Hoedt gave a fantastic insight in how our communities view us as CFA volunteers and how we can improve our profile within our communities. Brett also spoke about CFA as a brand - everything and everyone is a brand. This explains why it’s so valuable to have a brand that's understood and appreciated.
Guest speaker Amanda Lamont spoke about the importance of looking after your mental health and how different events affect our wellbeing.
- Your emotional wellbeing is not only important for you, but also those around you
- You decisions, words and actions can have long-term impacts on others
- You will not be helpful to others if you are not looking after yourself
The most important thing we need to do for ourselves is be kind to ourselves and self-care.
We then finished the day with a panel Q&A session which included CFA Acting Chief Officer Garry Cook, DCO Volunteers & Strategy John Haynes, South West Region ACO Rohan Luke, and Amanda Lamont.
What a great session to finish off with. Our volunteers asked some of our senior leaders their most burning questions.
The day was a great success and we hope that all who attended enjoyed themselves. Without our volunteers we would indeed be the poorer. Thank you to everyone who gives their time so willingly!
That’s the fabulous spirit of our CFA volunteers.
Volunteer Sustainability Team
South West