local hero
Volunteers are the lifeblood of good causes, and within the Subiaco community there are many locals giving their time for the benefit of others. Brooke Evans-Butler spoke to Subiaco resident Geoff Holland about volunteering with St John WA.
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GEOFF HOLLAND WAS no stranger to volunteering (having some previous experience in a call-in centre and teaching English in an orphanage in Vietnam) when several years ago while living in Menzies – a small town 130 kilometres North of Kalgoorlie – he was asked if he was interested in becoming a volunteer Regional Ambulance Officer with St John WA. Geoff found volunteering with St John WA to be very rewarding, and, being in such a small town, decided to also volunteer in Kalgoorlie and Karratha to get more experience. “I had some good experiences, and I certainly learned a lot,” he recalls. “Such was being part of a group of people, the paramedics, who are amongst the best people on the planet.” When Geoff retired from his job in Menzies, he got chatting with some paramedics about the volunteering options available once he returned to Perth. “One of the options was an Event Health Officer, where you have an ambulance at a sporting function or other event. There was first aid awareness, where you go out to schools and deliver education lessons, and the other option was
Community Transport Service, a door to door transport service that assists people to their medical appointments,” he explains. “Community transport services really appealed to me,” the retired teacher says. “It’s a bit like picking up your sick mother or grandmother. I didn’t know what to expect but where I get my joy from are these elderly people. Then there is a discussion on the way to the appointment, and it is not about their sickness – it is a funny story or something in the media with respect to world affairs, so it really is quite upbeat.” He says one memorable person he has picked up was a young woman going for regular dialysis treatment. “The takeaway lesson there is how positive she is about life, about getting a job, yet having to go in to have dialysis two or three times a week,” Geoff says. “It makes you stop complaining about your own problems. You can be sick, but you can still be a very dignified and positive person.” The transport jobs take Geoff
