Local heroes set to fly high at evening of awards

Bundaberg’s community of heroes will be recognised at an annual event that aims to recognise their special contributions.

A special awards evening will be held in Bundaberg next month to recognise the valuable contribution of local first responders and volunteers.

A SPECIAL awards evening will be held in Bundaberg next month to recognise the valuable contribution of our local heroes.

Hosted by the Bundaberg Central Rotary Club, the Brian Prince Emergency Services Awards have been running for the last seven years.

Rotary’s Rod Medew said the celebratory event was designed to honour the dedication of the local police, fire and ambulance services, as well as crews from the Rural Flying Doctor Service and LifeFlight.

“It’s about recognising emergency services and first responders for the incredible work they do in the Bundaberg region,” Mr Medew said.

“What I really love about it though is that it’s a peer based award, so for example, police choose the person that receives the award for that service, which means even more to them than it would normally.”

And while the annual event which started out small has increased in size over the years, it will always serve as a tribute to a particularly special person.

“Brian (Prince) unfortunately passed away seven years ago, but he was very active with the Rotary Club and he was a District Governor, but he was also a paramedic,” Mr Medew said.

“He did a lot for the ambulance service in NSW and when he got quite sick, I told him we would recognise him when he passed and by thanking emergency services for all the work they do.”

Brian’s wife Laurel Prince will attend the event as she does every year, but not everything will play out as it has done during the years prior.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions still in place, the wider community will unfortunately not be able to attend, but Mr Medew said he is looking forward to involving the public by making sure they can attend next year.

With five awards set to be distributed on the night, an exciting new category has been created to acknowledge volunteers in the Bundaberg area too.

“We have a new award called Volunteer of the Year, for members of the Rural Fire Service,

New award for volunteer of the year – rural fire brigade, State Emergency Service (SES), Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ) and Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR),” Mr Medew said.

“Volunteers are the forgotten people who don’t get paid but do it out of the kindness of their heart, so it’s great to welcome this new award this year and recognise all their efforts too.”

The Brian Prince Emergency Services Awards night is on September 19, from 6pm to 10pm, at the Bundy Services Club on Quay St.

Originally published as