Narrogin shire president Leigh Ballard on volunteering, strong communities and giving back

Volunteers are the lifeblood of regional communities and Narrogin shire president Leigh Ballard has served the Wheatbelt South community as a bushfire brigade volunteer for around 30 years. As the chief executive of internet service provider Crisp Wireless and volunteer for the Narrogin Bushfire Brigade and the Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service, Mr Ballard is a busy man. Volunteering is Mr Ballard’s way of giving back to the region he was raised in and something he encourages the community take up. “You volunteer not to get accolades, not to get recognised — the best way to thank someone for doing it is to get in and help them,” he said. “The more hands the easier it is for everyone.” Coming from a farming background, Mr Ballard described volunteering for the bushfire brigade as “just something you do.” “Something a lot of people probably don’t understand is that there’s two groups, the Volunteer Bushfire Brigade and Volunteer Fire and Rescue,” he said. “A lot of volunteers in Narrogin are dual registered and when trucks roll out of the shed they aren’t paid to be there. “People in the trucks want to give back to the community and make sure that it’s safe.” In the wake of the Wickepin-Narrogin bushfire of 2022, the local brigade saw an increase in interest. “We had a lot of people in town go ‘I felt helpless, I couldn’t do anything, how do I get involved?’” Mr Ballard said. “There are other people standing up now, which is really good, we’re getting good numbers to roll the trucks out. “We’ll always accept more hands, the more hands the better — the more hands we get, the more you can spread the load.” From sports groups to emergency services one of the biggest issues volunteers face is burn out. “We’ve got a great community of volunteers here in Narrogin,” Mr Ballard said. “The amount of volunteer hours that go into running a community is huge. “The more numbers we have the less fatigue we have and the better things run for the community.” Mr Ballard said that volunteering offers a sense of belonging, pride and equality. “You turn up and you’re just another person on the end of a hose doing something for the community,” he said. “It’s about giving without an expectation of getting something in return, there are a lot of people out there that give everything.” From refilling water bombers to being on the front line, there are opportunities for everyone to get involved in strengthening the community and training is free. Further information on being a bushfire volunteer is available on the Bushfire Volunteers and the DFES websites.