April 2, 2015
Murgon SES volunteer Alan Sage calls his colleagues his “orange angels”.
They go out in all sorts of weather, they clean up after disasters and they’re always ready to help people.
But it’s obvious that a lot of his fellow SES members think very highly of Alan, too.
They voted for him to receive the Olga Wilson Peer Support Officer Award for Queensland.
As well as his regular SES duties, Alan is both a Peer Support Officer (PSO) and a Chaplain to the SES. His area covers Murgon to Bundaberg and down to the Sunshine Coast.
His role is to support the volunteers who support the public.
Alan received his award from Acting QFES Commissioner Katarina Carroll in Brisbane recently – and it was a total surprise.
The award was voted by his peers, SES members he has assisted as well as members who have observed what a great job he has been doing.
Apparently he received quite a few nominations …
“My primary role is to look after SES members and their families,” he said.
However, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t work with the public.
“If I see someone struggling I will see if I can be of assistance,” he said.
“During the Roma floods, there was an old couple. Water had been right through their house. They didn’t know which way to turn. They had no one,” he said.
Alan talked to the couple and then linked them up with assistance.
There are 56 SES PSOs in Queensland and five of these have the added role of volunteer chaplain.
Alan’s award reads: “In recognition of the outstanding volunteer work done by individual Peer Support Officers who have demonstrated a high degree of resource and devotion to duty in a particular situation or in exemplary discharge of special duties above and beyond the normal role of a PSO”.
