Wednesday 10 May 2017

SES "WOW" Day

BY RACHEL STORER

Today is "Wear Orange Wednesday" (WOW Day) and the SES is asking people of the Hunter to wear orange to work or school in support of volunteers.

The 40,000 State Emergency Service volunteers have just faced their busiest 12 months on record, seeing 46 declared disasters across Australia with NSW being the most affected with a 45% increase of incidents.

Volunteers dedicated 390,000 hours of their time to assist communities affected by disasters.

Becky Gollings from the NSW SES is calling for people to show their support and appreciation today.

"[Volunteers] don't do it for any awards, thanks or money but getting behind them and showing them that they are appreciated goes so far to boost their spirit and morale," she said.

The SES have developed the hashtag #thankyouses and encourage people to "snap a selfie" in their orange attire and post it to social media so volunteers can see the widespread support for their service.

SES Volunteers. Image: ses.nsw.gov.au