By Callum Ludwig
On Sunday 17 July, CFA members from across the state gathered to recognise significant efforts from our volunteer firefighters in 2020 and 2022 at the Spirit of CFA awards.
Yellingbo CFA had two members recognised, with Jo Hardy and Paul Spinks each winning awards, Ms Hardy for Excellence in Community Engagement in 2020 and Mr Spinks for Living the Values in 2022.
Captain of the Yellingbo CFA Jeremy Hardy said he is extremely proud of the members of the brigade that were recognised.
“Jo is actually my wife and has been a volunteer at Yellingbo for nearly 10 years. A couple of years ago she took on the role of community safety, for getting out information to our local community, providing updates on things people can keep in mind for improving safety around the home,” he said.
“Paul’s been a volunteer at CFA for over 30 years and was a previous captain of the Yellingbo brigade for about 10 years. He is very dedicated to CFA, and his dedication is infectious.”
Ms Hardy was a joint winner of the award which recognises CFA members who have worked collaboratively to apply innovative approaches to community engagement which has created meaningful and lasting relationships and results.
Mr Hardy said it was extremely important to get information to the local community of Yellingbo.
“It’s not just information about preparing for the fire season, but also preparing for the winter season, we often have a lot of structure fires during winter,” he said.
“Jo was dedicated to putting out three or four newsletters to the local community each year as the seasons progressed, giving tips and information on what households can think about and do in preparation for either structure fires or for bushfire season.”
Mr Spinks’ prestigious Living the Values Award honours CFA members who exemplify CFA’s values of promoting safety at all times, showing respect, empathy and understanding, acting with integrity, honesty and fairness and working collaboratively, maintaining open
communication while responding and adapting to change.
Mr Hardy said Mr Spinks is very respectful of members and always gives them a any opportunity to try and strive to improve themselves at the brigade.
“He also strove for improving things at Yellingbo Fire Brigade and was one of the main leaders that helped get a new fire station,” he said.
“He got some updated vehicles there at the station as well to try and help keep the community safe for when there are any fires or incidents in the area.”
The awards were held in Ballarat and covered a range of categories, with awards for both teams and individuals.
Mr Spinks said his award is more of a testament to Yellingbo CFA, a small country town brigade.
“It’s hard because you say cliche words like humbled and honoured. I feel that winning the award is more about the brigade itself and the people in it then myself as an individual,” he said.
“I’ve always been very passionate and enjoy everything I’ve done with and what we present at CFA for over 31 years now. We’ve been able to make a really good impact within CFA and within the communities around our community and making a difference statewide with our rehab unit.”
Mr Spinks is a life member and current firefighter at the Yellingbo brigade and is deputy group officer of the Yarra Valley group of fire brigades.
Mr Spinks said there are some amazing individuals in the Yellingbo Fire Brigade and we need more volunteers in all volunteer organisations.
“You’d never otherwise be able to pull these people together, all these great people and the skill set they bring together to help someone. That’s what I’ve always loved and was honoured during my time as captain to have these people and do some great things over that time,” he said.
“We’re seeing such a decline in every facet in any volunteer organisations, we’re all trying to make sure we get enough volunteers because what we do is important, whether it is CFA, SES, Red Cross or the local footy club. I’ve been lucky to have an opportunity to be a part of that and make a difference whether it be small, and be acknowledged.”
Ms Hardy’s mailed-out newsletter is hand-delivered by members of the brigade in their own time to over 230 houses in the Yellingbo area.
Ms Hardy said she was chuffed to receive the award.
“I spent a lot of hours behind the scenes, creating my own newsletter for the community, which let them know what was happening at our brigade and around the area and on keeping the community safe and well,” she said.
“A lot of elderly people are not on the internet, and so you can’t rely on social media. I had a lot of members of the community ring people and tell me they were enjoying getting them. Every house gets a mailout because we all work as a team at this brigade.”
