Geographe Civil awarded for volunteer work

South West business Geographe Civil was presented with a bronze award for Volunteer Employer Recognition at DFES South West on Friday.

The DFES Volunteer Employer Recognition Awards acknowledge the contribution made by employers and self-employed volunteers in the delivery of emergency services in WA.

Geographe Civil general manger John Steere said he was thrilled to be recognised as a business.

“This was totally unexpected, it is always a nice surprise to be recognised in the community,” Mr Steere said.

Mr Steere said the fire season had started early this year and he encouraged people to volunteer.

“It is really important because without volunteers the community would be struggling,” he said.

WA Fire and Emergency Services Minister Francis Logan said volunteers played an important role across the State.

It is critical, we can’t keep people safe without volunteer firefighters — WA is a massive State and we just cannot have a fire truck or a volunteer on the corner of every place,

“Volunteers are critical to the running of the State.”

Bunbury MLA Don Punch said it was important for the community to do as much as they could to prepare for a bushfire.

“It is really critical and we have seen time and again, particularly with a lot of bush in the South West, the volunteers get out and do the work and they are always there to be called on,” Mr Punch said.

The best thing we can do as a community to support our volunteers is to think about how we can plan for a fire.