I want to take this opportunity to reflect on
some of the amazing aspects of our wonderful CFA.
A few weeks ago the VFBV State Junior Fire Brigades Championships were held at Tatura, and a big thank you and well done to the local organising committee, officials and supporters who made this
event happen.
There is enough just in the organising, set up and running of this event to be proud of but on top of this there is a the fact that what we see in the young CFA volunteers attending this event is tomorrows CFA, future community leaders
and our successors.
Talking to people over the Tatura weekend, the smart leaders knew the value of engaging young people in CFA, in their communities and in the broader sense of social connection, belonging and self-worth. Young girls and boys, men
and women from a huge range of cultural and community backgrounds, bright eyed and full of spirit, having fun, learning skills, and already with strong foundations of community service and engagement.
The smart people know that this is one of the
many great examples of how CFA volunteers pass on the baton, pass on the sense of commitment and pass on the connection with the big CFA family.
A challenge for us is that there will always be some people who miss it altogether and either don’t
bother to wonder how the huge network of CFA brigades are always there when needed, or marvel in surprise when they realise what a huge army of highly trained volunteers turn up to just get on with the job when it needs to be done.
For people who
have been around CFA for a long time, it is easy to take for granted that the names on the shirts came from every corner of Victoria and that there were dozens and dozens of communities represented.
It is easy to take for granted that these young
competitors demonstrated some terrific practical fireman ship skills and it is easy to take for granted that many of these young volunteers are already on the path to becoming dedicated volunteers with CFA, with other services, or across many. And because it is how CFA does things, it is easy to accept that these young people trained for months, that they had support teams and families who encouraged and supported them and that there is a huge amount of work done back in the local brigade to
encourage, motivate and keep them involved. But we mustn’t take this for granted.
And we mustn’t forget to be incredibly proud of all of the good things that CFA is, has always been and will hopefully still be long into the future. Like watching a
sunset, we need to continually stop and appreciate what we have and consciously watch out for it and look after it.
Plenty of wise folk talk about how Victoria’s emergency management capability could not exist without volunteers and about the vital
importance of CFA volunteers. And there is plenty said about the need to build resilient communities, build communities who share responsibility for their own wellbeing and safety; and build community participation.
There is also plenty said about
engaging young people in this journey. Imagine we were starting from scratch and someone said they could activate dozens of young people, from towns and suburbs across Victoria, to come together and be directly involved in building tomorrows community leaders, tomorrows community networks and tomorrows volunteers.
Imagine if they said they could do this in such a way that it wasn’t just written down in a fancy strategy document but was going to be practical, tangible, ongoing and driven by the local communities themselves. What an initiative? where do we invest? would be the likely reaction.
I know I will see the same beauty and incredible spirit at our forthcoming VFBV State Urban Senior Championships on the long weekend in March and our VFBV State Rural Championships to be held in April. So, well done to the people who made the Tatura VFBV State Junior Urban Fire Brigades happen. Well done to all of CFA’s young volunteers and
thank you for your time and energy. Well done to all CFA volunteers, young and old, newcomers and those that have served for decades. Well done to all of the CFA people, family support, employers and everyone who helps foster and encourage tomorrows CFA.
And particularly to the bright eyed optimistic young volunteers I saw on the track at Tatura, thank you for reminding us of the beauty of CFA and of what we have inherited from those who created and continuously evolved this marvellous community legacy.
I have chosen to reflect on the Tatura event simply because it sticks in my mind as a recent event but this doesn’t for a minute detract from the other examples of the wonderful CFA spirit that some of us are lucky enough to see regularly at brigade level, other events, incidents etc.
The same spirit, bond and CFA family was very evident at the funeral I attended for long serving and highly respected CFA officer Mark Reid.
Mark worked with many brigades and volunteers across all parts of Victoria, he understood and deeply valued the CFA volunteer based ethos. I had the good fortune of working closely with Mark, he was a respected leader and good friend to many CFA people, he will be sadly missed.
