District 8 recently held a program dinner to celebrate the second successful year of the Captains Peer Mentoring Program.
The dinner was held at the Tooradin Sports Club which regularly supports to CFA. This program was initiated in District 14 by Senior Instructor Kris Wilms, as a way of supporting newer captains with the broader management aspects of their role. Captains are partnered with a suitably experienced mentor to provide a connection via a formal structure to introduce a captain to someone beyond their usual networks.
The program is a professional development opportunity. It is not to ‘fix’ bad captains but to support those who would like an opportunity for personal and professional growth and who may be new to the role or facing particular challenges in their brigades.
The District 8 program facilitated six formal partnership arrangements this year, through self-managed individual meetings and a series of workshops and discussion groups to further enhance knowledge sharing and exchange within the program. These sessions were supported by guest speakers Senior Instructor Jamie McKenzie and Wellbeing officer Sharene Borsi.
The program is mentee driven with no formal required outcomes. It intends individual outcomes to be personalised and subjective. The program is managed with complete confidentiality. The program is not intended solve all issues captains may face, simply a process of support where they can bounce around ideas, discuss issues and share knowledge and experiences.
Each program is finalised with a celebratory dinner where the mentee and mentor groups come together to meet everyone else in the program and celebrate the work they have done together throughout the year.
The district 8 program is managed by program staff OO Mick Hembrow and RBASO Jane Fontana.
Please contact Jane Fontana from the South East Region Brigade Support Team for more information: 0417 117 708 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Photo: End of year dinner at Tooradin Sports Club
Author: Jane Fontana