RFSA President thanks volunteer fire fighters
During Volunteering Australia National Volunteer Week, RFSA President Tim Arnott extends a warm thank you to all NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteers for their service to the community.
Established in 1989, National Volunteer Week is the largest celebration of volunteers and volunteerism in Australia, and provides an opportunity to highlight the role of volunteers in our community.
The NSW RFS is the world’s largest volunteer fire service with over 70,000 volunteer personnel.
Mr Arnott said volunteers were very much the heart and soul of rural fire fighting in New South Wales.
“Volunteer fire fighters selflessly give up time with their families to attend weekly training sessions and are ‘on call’ twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
“For over a century volunteer fire fighters have routinely risked their own safely to protect local communities from bush and grass fires.
This year, National Volunteer Week falls along the week 11-17 May 2015 with the theme “Live happy, Be Happy”. Volunteers report a higher overall life satisfaction with 82% of volunteers reporting they were delighted, pleased or mostly satisfied with their lives, compared to 75% of non-volunteers.*
*As reported by the NSW Volunteering Unit of the Office of Communities – part of the NSW Department of Education and Communities http://www.volunteering.nsw.gov.au/about-us/interesting-statistics