2014 Australia Day Merit Award Presented to SES Volunteer

Australians are very familiar with the wonderful work performed by the State Emergency Service whenever storms and floods strike across the country. These are volunteers who have been highly trained to deal with a variety of situations, often co-operating with other emergency services.

What many people in this state would be unaware of is the SES Cadet Program which is directed and run in some high schools in NSW. The aim of the program is to introduce high school students to the opportunity to volunteer; to be trained in a variety of skills; to appreciate the need for team work in emergency situations; and to have fun while gaining these skills.

Pennant Hills High School was one of the first schools to take up the program thanks to the efforts of one of the school administrative staff, Mrs Lee Lowe, a 17 year volunteer with Hornsby SES. Lee was Keynote Speaker at the Rotary Club of Pennant Hills meeting to celebrate Australia Day at Pennant Hills Golf Club on January 20^th. She delivered a very professional talk on the history and operation of the Cadet Program at the school and included a video made about the program at the school.

Following Lee’s talk, she was presented with the club’s Australia Day Merit Award for 2014 by President Theo Glockemann assisted by Hornsby Shire Mayor, Steve Russell, who expressed his great respect for the marvellous service provided in the shire by the SES volunteers, noting what great demand there is due to the size and environment in the shire.

In accepting the award, Lee observed that there were many people involved in the success of the Cadet Program at the school including staff, SES volunteers, and of course, the students themselves.

The presentation concluded a very pleasant evening and a fitting Australia Day celebration. A brass plaque recording the award will be fixed to the wall adjacent to the entrance of Pennant Hills Library joining those for all of the awards made since the first one in 1986