Albany State Emergency Service volunteer Ben Whittle takes out Great Southern Volunteer of the Year Award

Albany SES volunteer Ben Whittle has won the top award at the Great Southern’s Volunteer of the Year Awards with a range of community organisations and individuals recognised on the night.

The annual awards organised by Albany and Regional Volunteer Service recognise the work of volunteers across the region in a myriad of capacities, from the Albany Returned Services League to the Cancer Council, and from the emergency services to arts and radio.

Mr Whittle, who accepted his Great Southern volunteer of the year award at a ceremony at Albany Entertainment Centre last Thursday, said he was proud to serve his community as an emergency services volunteer.

“It was good to get the acknowledgement more than anything, we’re definitely kept busy and we do a hard job sometimes, so it’s nice to be nominated and to be recognised by the community,” he said.

“There’s always a new challenge and a new adventure with the SES, and I love a challenge, so I’ve loved my time volunteering with them and I’m planning on sticking around for a fair while yet.

“Volunteering is always an incredibly rewarding way to give back to the community, and there’s a role out there for everyone, whether that’s with us, we’re always after even caterers and communications operators and that sort of thing, or elsewhere, there’s so many different volunteer associations out there that there’ll be something for everyone to do.”

Mr Whittle won the coveted award out of a field of more than 10 nominees, including two other finalists: Cancer Council’s Debby Davies and Albany RSL’s Stephen Edmonds.

The second major award of the night was the volunteer organisation of the year, which was awarded to Albany Historic Whaling Station.

Managers Jen Bane and Alice Ackley received the award on the organisation’s behalf with Ms Ackley acknowledging all the hard working volunteers in the room on the night and thanking all the organisation’s supporters and volunteers.

“We’re very honoured to be accepting this award tonight,” she said.

“We have some of our fabulous volunteers here who, each and every day, helped bring the story of our site.

“We offer such a wealth of experience to visitors of all backgrounds, and it’s through our volunteers that this experience is just brought to a whole new level.

“Working 365 days a year, we’ve got a fabulous team that undertake our maintenance, greeting guests, welcoming people to site, looking after our plans and our wildlife, we’re just so proud and honoured to have them as part of our team, and just delighted to be here tonight.”

The four other nominees were Soroptimist International of Albany, Great Southern FM radio, RSLWA Albany branch and the Albany Over 50s Recreation Association.