Some outstanding Community Engagement work is happening
on the South Coast!!
 |
| Photo by Water Info and shows the impact of the floods March 23, 2011. The refuse this powerful body of water left behind was amazing to see - so much devastation. |
The drive to Bega was fairly uneventful – until we reached the area that had been flooded several weeks previously. The amount of damage left behind from the flood was incredible. The path the water had taken was strewn with knocked over trees and piles of debris and rubbish. It really showed how damaging natural disasters can be. The absolute need for communities to be prepared for any type of natural disaster and have a plan to keep their families safe!
The Bega Roadshow saw some great discussion on the need to emphasise the importance of High, Very High and Severe fire danger rating days – as these are the days that most commonly occur. Fires on these days can still threaten life and property and need to be taken seriously - we need to encourage discussion about what to do on these days as well.
 |
| Photo by Water Info. Taken from Bega bridge 22 March 2011 |
 |
| Bega presentation on engagement regarding bush fire risk |
Presentations by Paul Cook and Marty Webster were fantastic and the work that is being done by the Bega group is amongst the most impressive we’ve seen during this years roadshow. We were so impressed we have asked them to present at the staff forum in May!
They presented a case study where social infrastructure research was undertaken (by them) before trying to engage with the community. As part of this research they found out who were the community leaders and influencors, community gathering points (of which the local school was not one of) and ways to best approach the community to improve the level of receptiveness. It was an inspiring presentation that demonstrated the use of many engagement techniques that we sometimes forget about in our desire to 'get on with the job.'
 |
The local brigade turned up to share some great discussion
and some equally great Frittata
|
The evening session in Moruya was a large and enthusiastic group, with the members from the local brigade joining us after their meeting. We also had the pleasure of the company of a very large but beautiful English Mastiff who waited patiently on the deck!
Moruya was Luke’s first presentation – and he did brilliantly especially since he hasn't officially started in the team yet! Great work Luke and welcome to the Community Engagement team!  |
| Luke presenting to the evening session at Moruya |
We received a great presentation about the Regions new Smokehouse and the plans to get miniature sized furniture for inside the smokehouse. The furniture is to help both children and adults understand the importance of knowing what their escape route is, and how hard it can be to see when the room is filled with smoke.
 |
| This was one of the pictures presented at the Moruya roadshow - their new smokehouse for educating children. |
 |
| Jesse presenting on the very professional and strategic newsletter she has developed |
But back to the Moruya roadshow where Jesse then ran the group through her community newsletter, aimed at not only informing the community about bush fire safety but also about improving community involvement with the NSW RFS. The newsletter is very much about showing the community that the members of their local brigade are just like them – mums, dads, grandparents etc. Not only is the newsletter used to help develop a foundation for effective engagement but it is also a platform for recruitment of new members!
 |
Entry to Terrara House
|
Friday 1st April dawned sunny and surprisingly cold. Tanyia received a couple of text messages from the team back at HQ. It took some time to realise that messages informing her that some team members wouldn’t be at work due to sales at Bunnings and offers to play footy for Australia were April Fools jokes!
On the way to the Fire Control Centre at Nowra we took a short detour through Terrara to take some photos of cattle grids and properties that may have access issues for fire trucks. Terrara is home to Terrara House, home of the famous racehorse Archer, winner of the first two Melbourne cups (did you know that he walked from Nowra to Melbourne to compete!) where we took some photos for our Property Access fact sheet that is currently being developed.
We were greeted in Nowra by an enthusiastic team. The afternoon session ran for almost 3 hours due to the great presentations by Tim and Gary and also some really vigourous discussion about social media and Open Day.
 |
Tim Carroll demonstrating radiant heat to the group
|
Gary told us the story of Alice the Burnt Bear. This is based on a true story (this happened to a Granddaughter of a RFS member) and is about how 3 year old Rochelle puts Alice the Teddy Bear in front of the heater to keep her warm but Alice the bear catches on fire.
 |
Gary telling the story of Alice the Burnt Bear
|
Sandra talked to the group about a full day ‘Fire Fighting for Non Fire Fighting Women’ program she developed for a group of 30 women. Gail demonstrated the proper use of a fire blanket using one of Gary’s fire pots.
 |
The ‘Firepot’ is great for doing demonstrations as well as
drawing in crowds at displays!
|
Lyndle learnt that when teaching kids to dial triple zero you should say ‘triple zero’ not ‘triple oh’ because on a phone handset ‘triple oh’ actually dials 666. This is especially important with text messaging being so common practice amongst children.
The evening ended with Lyndle having to listen to the footy on the car radio all the way home (much to her distaste) so Luke could listen to his beloved South Sydney! It’s what team members do for each other!
A great week in Region South – fantastic people, innovative community engagement approaches and great relationships all round!
Stay tuned for week 4!
Cheers from Lyndle (who wrote most of this blog entry), Tanyia, Tony and Luke.
No comments:
Post a Comment