Matt Hewson
Corio’s State Emergency Services (SES) unit will receive over $80,000 of state government funds for a new vehicle.
The SES unit, made up of around 25 volunteers, will put the $87,327.61 in funding toward replacing its ageing support vehicle.
Corio Unit Deputy Controller and community engagement officer Alex Suwitra said unit members were both excited and grateful for the funding.
“Our support vehicles are pretty vital, particularly for access when we’re in search and rescue operations,” Mr Suwitra said.
“It carries our mule, which is a wheeled stretcher basket, and some other patient-carrying equipment we use mainly to carry injured people out of the You Yangs and other areas with similar terrain.
“And on a more frequent basis, the support vehicle means we’ve got another vehicle and crew out on the road during and after large storms, which means we can get to calls faster.
“This funding means we’re able to continue to provide that important emergency response for our community in a vehicle that’s equipped with the latest technology.”
The funding is part of the Victorian Emergency Service Equipment Program (VESEP), a state government program providing funding support to Country Fire Authority (CFA), VICSES, Life Saving Victoria (LSV) and Marine Search and Rescue (MSAR) units to improve emergency response capability.
Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes announced $15 million in VESEP grants last Thursday (November 23), including numerous other local VESEP recipients from CFA (Anakie, Corio and Grovedale), LSV (Anglesea, Barwon Heads, Fairhaven, Jan Juc, Ocean Grove and Torquay), MSAR (Queenscliff and Torquay) and VICSES (Bellarine and Torquay).
VESEP provides $2 for every $1 of funds contributed by the local volunteering group, up to a maximum of $150,000, meaning SES Corio will still need to contribute over $40,000 toward the new vehicle.
Mr Suwitra said the unit’s previous fundraising efforts would largely cover that amount but donations at sescorio.org/donations were always welcome .
He also encouraged people to visit the unit’s Facebook page to keep up to date with their events and activities, such as its upcoming Santa Run with Corio CFA on Sunday, December 17.
Visit www.ses.vic.gov.au/join-us for more information or to register your interest in volunteering with VICSES.
