A young brigade management team (BMT) is paving the way for the next generation of members at Moe Fire Brigade. With three BMT members aged 33 and under, Moe’s leadership team is injecting new ideas and encouraging young people in the community to get involved with their local brigade.
Captain Liam Bantock said young people are the future of CFA and we need to invest in them whenever we can.
“For a brigade, it’s important to have young people because they bring a different generational understanding in how to connect to their peers, whether that’s through community safety or engaging their peers in volunteering,” Liam said.
“They also bring new ways of doing things and different skills such as social media. From a leadership perspective it’s a good opportunity for young people to be mentored, which is also great for the older members who get to be mentors and share knowledge.
“I also think it’s important to get involved in CFA generally because there’s really strong personal benefits to volunteering – contribution to your community, the connections you make and the skills you learn.”
Tara Paulsen, aged 33, is the brigade’s second lieutenant. She said young people can bring a fresh outlook to a BMT and tackle tasks in a slightly different way.
“It’s really good to see young people come through because their ideas are different, and they have a different mindset of the way things could be,” Tara said.
“It’s so important to encourage and develop leadership skills from a young age and give them the opportunity to speak up now so they carry that into the future. If younger members aren’t encouraged in the early stages of their CFA career, there’s the potential for a gap in knowledge when the older members start to step down.”
Third Lieutenant Rowan Day, aged 22, echoed Tara’s thoughts, believing that the outlook young people bring can be vital to ensure the brigade develops.
“We’ve been able to implement certain technologies into the brigade which has been really beneficial,” Rowan said. “We’ve implemented the Supplementary Alerting Service app into our everyday operations. As a BMT, we’re all on the same wavelength and it really benefits us and how we approach certain tasks.”
He said that being able to have input into the direction the brigade is heading is a valuable experience.
“Joining the BMT is a really great way to have your say and to help steer the brigade in a positive direction. I would really encourage young people in CFA to get involved in their BMTs.”
For Fourth Lieutenant Montana Earle, aged 24, it’s not only BMTs she thinks young people should get involved with.
“I’ve spent 13 years volunteering and it’s definitely made me a lot more confident. It’s helped me take on new opportunities and challenges,” Montana said.
“Volunteering really provides you with a different environment where you become more community-focused and it teaches you resilience and adaptability.
“While it’s fantastic for young people to get involved in their BMT, I believe it’s vital we encourage more young people to join CFA in general. The youth are the future of CFA, and it’s so important to foster them and help them to develop from early on.”
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Tiahn Wright |