DECEMBER HAKIHEA 2019
Thank you, Okiwi volunteers! EH_HeaderBlock4Print_Decemberdate_open file.indd 1
18/04/19 2:12 PM
Okiwi volunteers met recently for a Christmas celebration, as the service marked another year of helping the elderly in our community. Manager Pippa de Court says the commitment of so many people makes the service so successful that at the moment, there are nearly as many volunteers as clients. The service has expanded over the years, and while it's still mainly a driver service, clients can also go on outings to watch movies and videos and get simple handyman tasks done in their homes
Complaints, resignations: fire brigade in crisis by Louise Parry A serious falling out between brigade members has left the Eastbourne Volunteer Fire Brigade down to just six members and one support – five of whom have never been into a burning building before and most of whom only completed their training course last year. Following a complaint made by a fellow firefighter against him, Chief Fire Officer Ross Carroll resigned and was soon after joined by every other officer at Eastbourne – Deputy Chief Fire OfficerMike Osborne, Graham Allen and Marty Lenihan resigned soon other
in solidarity with their chief and mate. Their combined loss is 100 years of experience attending call outs to fires, car crashes, floods, wind events, earthquakes, and - increasingly medical emergencies, for which the brigade is a first responder. The Eastbourne Herald contacted Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) and was sent a statement from regional commander, Gavin Dunphy: "Fire and Emergency New Zealand has the capacity to respond to incidents around the Eastbourne coverage area Eastbourne coverage area.
"From time to time volunteers leave brigades for a range of reasons, and we have plans in place to ensure there’s little or no impact on the communities they serve. "Three firefighters have decided to leave the brigade. Area Management is working with the team at Eastbourne in the short to medium term to ensure it continues to serve its community to a high standard. If there are any capacity issues we will dispatch a nearby brigade as well as Eastbourne to incidents." Further enquiries to FENZ resulted in another statement being issued: Continues on Page 3