Wodonga Wins!

The Wodonga Unit has been honoured as the NAB 2007 Volunteer Awards Runners Up in the small organisation category for Victoria.

These Awards recognise the commitment of volunteers around Australia and reward the organisations who demonstrate best practice in their management of this workforce of unsung heroes.

This is what the NAB had to say about us: "It takes a special kind of person to voluntarily step outside during gale force winds and flooding to help save another, or to assist fire fighters battling raging bushfires; which is why the brave Wodonga SES volunteers have The Wodonga SES is staffed entirely by volunteers, two of which, Lisa Wise and Warrick Armstrong, have been with SES for over fifteen years each supporting and keeping their community safe.

Established in 1970, the Wodonga SES is a cornerstone of the local community, providing assistance to the task force at the 2006 Commonwealth games, logistic support for the Wodonga 'Carols by Candlelight' and rescuing a truck driver trapped for more two hours using a crane and other specialist heavy lifting equipment, ensuring he walked away with only minor bruises for his ordeal..

"Rescuing a dog trapped for 72 hours in a gum tree is just part of our everyday service," said Unit Controller, Read Hedditch. "It's the small contributions to the community that mean just as much as the larger tasks we undertake."

As part of best practice in volunteering, the group holds three hour training sessions every Tuesday which provide an opportunity to introduce new members to the Unit as well as keeping existing volunteers well informed and ready for anything.

Read says, "we recruit members with special skills, like fundraising, which is essential for a not for profit group. We recently purchased a new rescue vehicle, with the assistance of a government grant, but we had to raise a lot of that money ourselves. So the award money from the NAB Volunteer Award will go towards equipment for the new truck."

Well done to all our members - without your dedication and hard work we would not be the award winning unit we are today!

For more information on the awards go to http://www.nab.com.au/volunteering

Fundraising trivia night

The Wodonga Unit of the Victoria State Emergency Service provides a 24-hour service, 7 days a week, free of charge to the community. Our Members are Volunteers who work for no pay, helping people in trouble anytime day or night and in all weather conditions. As you may already know, the SES only receives minimal government funding so relies on its community for continuing support.

Currently we are fundraising to purchase rescue equipment and tools to equip our new rescue vehicle. This vehicle will assist us in meeting the growing needs of the community we serve, reducing the waiting time for community members affected by storm damage and a greater response capability for rescue at major collision incidences

To assist in reaching this goal, we are holding a Trivia Night on Saturday 14th July at our local headquarters in Pearce Street, Wodonga. Information regarding details of the night can be found on the attached flyer.

For information on how you can donate or to book a table please contact us via our paging service on 02 6024 3300, or alternatively to speak with members of our fundraising committee directly.

Thank you kindly for your support.

Read Hedditch
Controller
VICSES – Wodonga Unit
wodonga@ses.gov.vic.au

Wodonga SES Call for New Volunteers

New Truck

Wodonga SES have taken delivery of a new 4WD Mitsubishi Canter crew cab truck

Fire Season 2006-2007

Members of Wodonga SES have been busy during the summer bushfire campaign providing support to the CFA & DSE, click here for further information.

December 2nd - Wild Weather

Well its happened again. It doesn't feel that long ago that the unit was battling through the freak March storm, and while this one didn't quite reach those extremes the unit fielded upwards of 70 jobs on Friday as heavy rains and wind uprooted trees and caused major damage across much of the region.

The 132 500 number was in operation during the storms and seems to have been successful. As we recently advised, please refer to Preparing for and coping with Storms PDF, a guide to how you can help during these periods of extreme weather.

Many thanks to all the members involved, the other units and emergency services that helped out and to the general public for getting through the tasks at hand together.

There are some photos of the event in the Wodonga Unit Gallery.

Preparing for Storms and 132500

The Wodonga SES unit is activated several times every year to help assist protecting lives and property at risk from storm damage.

As the new 132500 number is now live, Wodonga Unit has released the following downloadable guide to assist you should you ever experience a storm situation.

Preparing For And Coping with Storms (PDF)

Wodonga News

It has been a while between updates on the Wodonga SES unit homepage! The March storms had the unit working very hard with upwards of 200 call-outs. Since then the unit has been activated for a variety of storm jobs, road crash rescue and more. We have welcomed a swag of new members, and pushed existing members through GRS and RCR training.

Presently new PPE has been acquired and we have a large consignment of wet weather gear to distribute just in time for Spring! Seriously though, its great to have the gear and the new Gortex jackets are especially welcome.

Also, check out Audio and Video of the Wodonga SES in action at the ABC car park during an RCR scenario -

ABC RCR Scenario

Here is a link to the Video - HERE

Cheers,

Dylan.

Search for Missing Aircraft

In July members of the Wodonga unit were part of the VICSES contingent requested by Victoria Police to assist the search and rescue operation for an overdue aircraft near Mount Hotham.

The Piper Chieftain twin engine light aircraft with three people on board went missing on the Friday the 8th of July around 1800 hrs and a team of four personnel departed for the Mount Hotham airport in the early hours of Saturday morning. Weather conditions on the Mountain were unfavourable with constant snow, heavy at times and strong winds in places creating low visibility and very difficult conditions for the search effort. SES personnel along with those from Ski Patrol and CFA assisted the Police Search and Rescue Squad in the operation.

It was not until Monday that weather conditions improved enough for helicopters to be utilised and the aircaft wreckage was found that morning with no survivors. The SES teams came from a number of units in the North East & East Regions.

Long Service Medal Presentation

On Friday 5th November 2004, long serving members of the State Emergency Service were recognised for their efforts in a formal award ceremony at the Wodonga SES local headquaters. Several members were awarded medals and certificates in recognition of 5, 10, 15 years of dedicated service.

Volunteers and their partners were invited to the dinner and award ceremony which went off without a hitch. A good night was had by all and a special mention should go to the Red Cross volunteers who catered for the event. A big thanks to all volunteers, especially those whose commitment was recognised on Friday night.

Wodonga SES Photo wins Albury Show 2004

This photo of David Boltwood conducting a training module on the use of fire extinguishers at Wodonga LHQ has won "Best Print" at the Albury Show 2004 earning Dylan O'Donnell, an SES volunteer, the "Champion of Show" sash for the photography section! The photo is also featured on the ABC Online website, click here to visit the ABC Goulburn Murray photo gallery.

For more photos from the Wodonga SES unit, visit the photo gallery.

Photos from the Wodonga SES!

A photo gallery has been added to the website!

You can now take a look at our vehicles and our headquarters. Stay tuned for more photos as we add them.

Welcome to the Wodonga Unit of the Victorian State Emergency Service.

Wodonga Unit is responsible for Wodonga and the surrounding areas, its volunteer network on call 24 hours a day to assit with floods, storm damage, search and general rescue, road accidents and more.

This website will allow you to contact Wodonga SES and provide information about the unit and its activities.