Woolies’ committed to volunteer support

A Bunbury supermarket is among several organisations in the South West recognised for supporting vital emergency services.

Bunbury Forum’s Woolworths received recognition in the gold category at the Department of Fire and Emergency Services Volunteer Employer Recognition Awards.

The awards acknowledge the invaluable contribution made by employers and self-employed volunteers who take time off work to respond to incidents and emergency situations.

The Forum’s Woolworths was the only Bunbury-based organisation to take home gold at the awards.

Store manager Adam Gray said he was happy to support his team of volunteers, which included a firefighter and State Emergency Service members.

“Whenever they come to me and need to go, I’m happy to support them,” Mr Gray said.

“That sometimes does conflict with their hours of work but at the end of the day, what they’re doing is more important than work.

“They do all the hard work ... Some of the things I’m sure they see are quite grizzly so anything I can do to help them is the cherry on the top.”

He said he was not expecting the recognition.

“They nominated us, that’s reward enough, I didn’t expect that,” he said.

“We don’t do it to get any reward, it was unexpected and it was a nice unexpected reward.”

Woolworths in Collie was also recognised in the gold category, while the Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup, Bunbury Jaguar and Land Rover and Collie Senior High School won silver.

Emergency Services Minister Francis Logan said businesses that supported emergency service volunteers allowed the department to have faster response times to a wide range of incidents.

“It’s essential we have supportive businesses which allow their employees to take time off work to attend incidents, training and community events,” Mr Logan said.