Grovedale CFA Foundation puts Ashbury Community Fund grant to good use.

An annual initiative of Ashbury Estate’s developer, Dennis Family Corporation, 2024 marks the seventh year the Ashbury Community Fund has been up and running.

In mid-October, 20 delighted community and not-for-profit groups from Armstrong Creek and surrounding areas received grants totalling $30,000, including the Grovedale CFA.

We recently caught up with the Brigade’s 4th Lieutenant and Community Education Officer, James Mildren, to find out a little more about the Brigade.

Tell us about the Grovedale CFA?

“Established in 1942, the Grovedale CFA was originally named the Grovedale-Marshall Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade. “Over the years, the Brigade has evolved from its rural roots into an urban-based fire service, while still maintaining its rural firefighting capabilities. Today, its fleet includes three vehicles – a pumper, a tanker, and a gas flare-off unit.

“The Brigade currently has more than 60 members of the brigade, of which 40 are operational staff, who are on hand to respond to a wide range of incidents including structure fires, motor vehicle accidents, and wildfires (grass and scrub), flood assistance and other emergency activities. Alongside this, the Brigade is also responsible for delivering a number of other non-emergency, but nonetheless critical, activities including community and fire safety programs, technical services, vegetation management and planned burning.”

Tell us about you and your role with the organisation.

“I’ve now been a volunteer with the Grovedale CFA for around 13 years. In doing do, I’ve followed in the footsteps of both my father and uncle, who were both career firefighters in Queensland.

“I think one of the key motivating factors for joining was, and remains, the opportunity to give back to the local community – in a wide variety of ways! While my primary role is as an operational firefighter, responding to emergency calls at all hours to help fight fires, I’m also actively involved in educating and engaging the community about fire safety, helping residents develop fire plans and responding to other emergencies – big and small, as and when they happen.”

What are the most rewarding things about being involved in the Brigade?

“I think for all volunteer fire fighters, there’s an enormous amount of satisfaction that comes in simply helping and supporting the local community, from sharing advice and knowledge about fire behaviour and fire safety, to working with other emergency services, so we can reduce the destructive impact of fires.

“More personally, one of my most memorable moments was being honoured with the Eric Moores Award for Outstanding Leadership. This recognition was voted on by all Brigade members, and I was deeply humbled to receive it.”

What are some of the bigger challenges facing Grovedale CFA?

“One of the biggest challenges facing brigades located along urban fringes like ours, is having to contend with an ever-changing environment. Over the past few years Geelong’s urban interface has rapidly expanded, and this has also been accompanied by an increasing number of road closures. Collectively these can definitely add to the complexity of responding to incidents.”

What are the Brigade’s most frequently called upon services?

“In the past year, the Grovedale CFA has responded to nearly 450 calls, each one unique in its own way. We also have a junior brigade and a junior running team, and are highly involved in the local community, visiting schools, kindergartens, and various local groups and educating them about fire safety and preparedness. One of our biggest annual events is assisting Santa with his yearly lolly run, which saw over 1,000 children participate last year!”

If you were granted one wish for the Grovedale CFA, what would it be?

“If we had one wish, it would be for a new fire station, which would allow us to expand our membership base and better serve our growing community.”

How can people become involved, support Freshwater Creek CFA, donate, volunteer, etc?

“While Grovedale CFA is not currently recruiting, we encourage anyone interested in volunteering with the CFA to visit our website and register an expression of interest with one of our neighbouring brigades. People can also contact us through our Grovedale CFA Facebook page, which is monitored by our community engagement team. And, of course, we’re always grateful for any donations, which go directly toward purchasing essential equipment. So, if you'd like to support us, please get in touch via our Facebook page.”

For more details about the Ashbury Community Fund, visit the Ashbury website at www.ashburyestate.com.au.