SAES teams gather for Collaroy workshop weekend
- 8 hours ago
- 2 min read
BY KIRRALEE NICOLLE
The Salvation Army Emergency Services NSW/ACT teams gathered recently to connect with one another, learn more about their roles and build stronger teams.
The event, held at The Collaroy Centre in Sydney’s Northern Beaches on 14-15 March, offered a chance for SAES volunteers and staff to discuss issues relating to response and recovery, and increase their knowledge and competency.
Norm Archer, SAES Response Coordinator for NSW/ACT, said he began planning the workshop-focused event three years ago, and it went “spectacularly” well.
“We’re blessed in that the [NSW] State Government gives us a bucket of money to train volunteers,” Norm said. “So that lets me run these workshops.”
Twenty-three people attended the worshop, including 20 volunteers. Alongside Norm were Senior Program Manager for Response and Wellbeing Major Bindy Lupis and one other staff member.
Norm said he intentionally called the training events workshops, as each one was very much a two-way learning experience.
Attendees participated in a number of topics, including using incident management software effectively, how to use new equipment, teamwork, volunteer activation and wellbeing.
Norm said it was also an important chance for people to network, get to know each other and share stories and problems.
It was crucial for volunteers to feel supported, he said, and that the weekend was a chance for the volunteers who attended to be better equipped to engage and come alongside the 500 volunteers throughout the state.
“A big theme through the weekend was that they are supported, and help is a phone call away,” he said.
“Unless we’ve got volunteers on the ground, very, very, very little, if anything happens. It doesn’t happen without them. That’s the really important thing, that I want acknowledged and promoted and applauded.”
