CHELSEA SES controller Ron Fitch has been recognised for over a quarter of a century of outstanding work by receiving a Victorian Premier’s Volunteer Champions award.
The 2018 awards were presented on 9 September to 60 individuals across the state for their service to the community.
Mr Fitch, 63, said that he was “very humbled and honoured” to receive the recognition for his hard work.
“It was my 26 plus years in the SES at Chelsea that resulted in my name being nominated for that award,” he said.
“There was an event at Government House, and it was great to receive that award.”
During his time with the SES, Mr Fitch has been deployed to numerous dangerous and difficult situations.
“I was deployed down to the fires around Colac a while back, I went on two deployments down there. I’ve also been the controller at the Chelsea unit for nearly 24 years. I’ve attended multiple natural disasters in Victoria and New South Wales,” he said.
His hard work in those difficult situations has now been acknowledged with this award.
Mr Fitch has been based at Chelsea for the entirety of his time with the SES, and has been a resident of the area for over 30 years.
Although he was happy to receive the honour, Mr Fitch said the best part of the presentation was getting to share it with his 93 year old mother.
“It was very memorable because my Mum accompanied me to the event, and she got to meet the Governor of Victoria. She had a very enjoyable time,” he said.
Mr Fitch has previously been recognised for his hard work by being made a Paul Harris Fellow by Chelsea Rotary and by winning the 2018 Kingston Outstanding Citizen Award.
He was nominated for the volunteer’s award by Mordialloc MP Tim Richardson.
Chelsey Reindel of the Bonbeach Lifesaving Club was another local to receive the award.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 19 September 2018