Serving the community is important to Bailey Rhodes and his family.
The Melton CFA brigade has been a big part of the 20-year-old volunteer firefighter’s life since he was a child.
Bailey took home the Spirit of CFA Youth award, which was presented in Ballarat at the weekend, to honour the outstanding dedication and extraordinary lengths volunteers and firefighters go to in helping one another and the community.
“It’s quite surreal,” he said.
“I’m not in there for the accolades. It’s pretty special to be able to see all the things that people do behind the scenes. It’s very humbling that I was nominated by my peers.
“I’ve been part of the CFA since I was 11. My whole family was involved in the CFA, and so you could say that I’ve been there since I was born.”
Bailey said being part of the Melton brigade was all about service to the community.
“When you wear the CFA logo, you’re there to represent the community and the brigade, not just yourself,” he said. “The things that you can do within the CFA are also handy in everyday life. You experience parts of the state that you wouldn’t normally, be part of a team and the friendships you form are phenomenal.”
In the teams category, the Ballan Junior Leaders won the Excellence in Inclusion and Fairness award and the Rockbank Brigade won the Excellence in Sustainability Planning award.
CFA chief executive Paul Smith said he was impressed with the calibre of nominations.
“The quality of all the entrants was outstanding and I’d like to particularly recognise the finalists whose fine work epitomises the values of this great organisation,” he said.
