2023 Individual Volunteer of the Year Winner Q&A
A winner of the Volunteer Recognition Awards 2023 – Individual Volunteer of the Year category, Greg Power, is a highly skilled, trained and experienced Team Leader at the NSW SES Ryde Unit. It’s a 24/7 role, responding to calls for assistance from residents impacted by flood and storm emergencies.
Greg turns 72 this year. He and his wife Linda have been married for 48 years and have both been SES volunteers for 11 years. We caught up with Greg to find out a bit more about the man behind the award.
What keeps you busy when you’re not working with the SES?
In one word, family! There are quite a lot of us. My wife Linda and I have four children and nine grandkids ranging from 5 to 27 years old.
We also volunteer, as we have for the past 38 years, with Catholic Engaged Encounter, helping couples prepare for marriage. We’re the Sydney coordinators. We’ve presented to and worked with over 1,000 couples at weekend workshops over the years.
You’ve been retired for a while now, what field did you work in before?
The first half of my career was in tax accounting, the second in sales. Sales is all about relating to people and finding common ground with them, which I love. I do sometimes wonder if I should have been a tradie instead, I was always mechanically minded.
What inspired you to join the SES as a volunteer?
It’s something I had thought about doing for a long time. I wanted to contribute to the community, and I was always good with my hands, fixing things and so on. But with family and work, there wasn’t time. Six months after I retired, I did it. My wife joined at the same time.
What do you enjoy about being an SES volunteer?
I really love the work. It’s fun. I love the mental and physical challenges of the more complex jobs, as well as the teamwork and the appreciation from people that we help.
The SES has such a positive image in the community, there’s a lot of recognition and respect. I remember we were driving back from Lismore after helping in the flood response a few years ago. We stopped for lunch at Coffs Harbour, and other customers in the queue insisted that we go ahead of them because of our uniforms.
The SES is so dedicated to safety and “eternal training”. We need to be ready for anything at any time. We train every Monday night, and keep our first aid and other accreditations updated.
The equipment and training are the same for every crew across the state, so we can effectively slide into any team and operate effectively. When you are facing a challenging situation, you need to be able to rely 100% on the people and the equipment you have with you, and that’s what the SES is all about.
Our teams are very diverse, we represent a lot of the groups in our community. We’ve got volunteers ranging in age from teenagers to 70s, like me.
What can people do to be as prepared as possible for floods and storms?
The SES, like City of Ryde Council and other agencies, is committed to building community resilience, and you can really see that it’s working.
I’d say never underestimate the importance of regular maintenance. Cleaning your gutters is really important – we see so many houses with a collapsed roof, rising damp or mould issues that this could have helped prevent.
Look around your property and think about what might cause trouble in a high wind. Are there rotten trees or branches? Trampolines or toys that could be picked up and cause damage or injury?
What would you say to people who are thinking about volunteering?
There are a huge variety of roles in an organisation like the SES. You don’t have to get on a roof with a chainsaw – we also need people with IT skills, people who are good organisers, communicators and so on.
The SES doesn’t turn anyone away, if you offer to help, they will find a role for you. It is important to have realistic expectations and patience though – it takes time and training to gain the skills, confidence and experience needed for some of the work we do.
