Redland City State Emergency Service (SES) Unit members have been recognised with four major accolades at recent state and regional awards ceremonies.
Cleveland Group Leader Cindel Richardson won the Queensland Excellence in Volunteer Management Award at the Queensland Volunteering Awards presented on 16 May.
At the 2025 Brisbane Region SES Awards on 17 May, Steven Hayes was awarded Regional Member of the Year, Malakai Keen was awarded Young Member of the Year, and Redland City SES Unit was awarded Unit/Group of the Year.
You may also like these stories
Redland City Mayor and Local Disaster Management Group chair Jos Mitchell said the awards reflected the outstanding work of local SES volunteers in keeping residents safe during times of disaster.
“We are very lucky, here on Redlands Coast, to have one of the hardest working community-minded SES teams in Queensland,” the Mayor said.
“As part of the preparation and response for Tropical Cyclone Alfred in March, our SES volunteers responded to more than 1200 job requests, putting in 8455 volunteer hours.
“That’s an amazing response from a group of people who were also preparing their own properties for the impact of the cyclone.
“Ten members were also deployed in early April to bolster the emergency response across Longreach, Charleville, Thargomindah, Adavale and Jundah.”
The Mayor said the awards provided an opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to all SES members and honour them for their length of service or exceptional performance throughout the year.
“I’d particularly like to acknowledge Tony Daniel, who received his 50 Years Clasp at the regional SES awards,” the Mayor said.
“That 50 years represents an incredible level of dedication to both the SES and the community.
“I am sure the community will join with me in congratulating all members of the Redland SES Unit for this recognition at both the state and regional level.”
Queensland Volunteering Award recipient Cindel Richardson has been involved with the SES for 20 years and has contributed to major disaster responses across the state, including cyclones Larry (2006), Yasi (2011) and Marcia (2015) and the 2022 Brisbane floods.
Her leadership includes mentoring volunteers and supporting member development, developing innovative training programs, and strengthening recruitment and retention.
Steven Hayes, Redland Bay Group, was named Regional Member of the Year for distinguished service to the Redland City SES Unit through exemplary contribution to enhancing all aspects of operations, training, preparedness and interoperability.
Malakai Keen, Cleveland Group, was named Regional Young Member of the Year for distinguished service to the SES through exceptional commitment, leadership and contribution to the preparedness of Redland City SES Unit and showing maturity beyond his years in mentoring and assisting his fellow members.
In addition to the major awards at the Brisbane Region SES Awards, 16 Redland City SES Unit members received SES medals and awards.
Medal recipients were:
- Anne Marie Bennett – 25 Years Clasp
- Wayne Whitrod – 25 Years National Clasp, 25 Years Meritorious Service Clasp
- Cindel Richardson – 20 Years Meritorious Service Clasp
- Daniel Tuckwood – 15 Years National Medal
- Tim Wills – 10 Years Meritorious Service Medal.
Regional SES Awards recipients were:
- Peter Brown, Redland Bay Group – For special contribution to the SES, developing innovative and practical training scenarios, enhancing response capabilities across the Redland City SES Unit.
- Heather Curley, Cleveland Group – For special contribution to the SES through unwavering dedication to recruit development and fostering camaraderie throughout the Cleveland SES Group.
- Justin Dunn, Redland Bay Group – For special contribution to the SES through outstanding dedication and commitment to improvements in Unit flood boat training and operations.
- Laurence Holt, Redland Bay Group – For special contribution to the SES, demonstrating expertise and unwavering commitment in developing teamwork and volunteer skills ensuring an efficient response to operations.
- Paul Idec, Cleveland Group – For special contribution to the SES, demonstrating unwavering dedication to operational readiness through meticulous maintenance of equipment and consistent response to activations.
- Michael Jones, Southern Moreton Bay Islands Group – For special contribution to the SES through commitment to training and operational response in support of the community.
- Tayla Pegg, North Stradbroke Island Group – For exceptional dedication to capability development in the Redland Unit through enhancing group collaboration and training.
- Helena Tellier, Southern Moreton Bay Islands Group – For special contribution to the SES through outstanding dedication to strengthening community resilience and stakeholder engagement.
- Lee Unitt, Cleveland Group – For special contribution to the Cleveland SES Group through frequent comment to training, operations and member development.
- Caine Ward, Southern Moreton Bay Islands Group – For special contribution to the SES, strengthening stakeholder connections and resilience in the Southern Moreton Bay Island communities.
The three regional award winners are automatic finalists for the Queensland SES awards to be presented on Saturday 23 August as part of SES Week.
Further accolades were presented to three Redland City SES members at the South Brisbane Rotary Club Essential Services Award on 19 May:
- Daniel Tuckwood, Redland Bay Group Leader
- David Frazer, SES Deputy Local Controller
- Cindel Richardson, Cleveland Group Leader
Redland City SES Unit has more than 130 members working across a range of voluntary roles including responding to storm damage to roofs and fallen trees, flood boat responses, evacuations, first aid and search and rescue.
There are also non-field roles in administration, community education and operational support that are no less important in responding to different types of disasters and emergencies.
For information on becoming an SES volunteer, visit ses.qld.gov.au
