When Tracy and her husband Kevin bought a 22-hectare Marlborough property complete with a four-hectare ‘doer-upper’ vineyard in 2004, it was a welcome return home for Marlborough-born Tracy.
After working overseas for Tourism NZ, then as General Manager of Destination Marlborough, Tracy now juggles consulting at Australasia-based company TRC Tourism with serving on a number of organisations’ boards and committees.
Tracy joined Fire and Emergency’s Marlborough Local Advisory Committee (LAC) as Deputy Chair in 2020 because she “admires the important role Fire and Emergency plays in the community” and wants to contribute her well established networks and connections.
“Joining the LAC felt like a worthwhile opportunity to support Fire and Emergency’s work in our community”.
One of the Committee’s main goals is to increase the profile of Fire and Emergency volunteers in the local business community and promote the valuable skills and experience they bring to the job.
With Kevin himself a volunteer of the Wairau Valley Brigade, Tracy’s appreciation for volunteers is first-hand. “Kevin runs the vineyard, then dashes off when the siren goes”, she says.
The LAC recently organised an event at the Blenheim Fire Station for Chamber of Commerce members and was pleased to hear from businesses that saw the value of volunteers in the workforce, and “their willingness to support Fire and Emergency in any form they could, both personally and at an organisational level”.
Hearing from the local winery Spy Valley of their positive experience employing Fire and Emergency volunteers prompted Tracy to speak with team at Wine Marlborough where she is Deputy Chair.
Tracy’s mahi culminated in the September issue of the regional wine sector publication Wine Press featuring an article on Fire and Emergency volunteers.
“It was a great opportunity to remind vineyard and winery owners and managers to consider ways they can reduce risk out in the field and reinforce the importance of the value of volunteers in their workforce who can help do just that”, Tracy says.
“The attributes they bring - confidence, discipline, reliability – and the training that volunteers get are great assets”.
It’s been a busy time for Tracy, balancing her many roles with the commitments as Deputy Chair of Marlborough’s LAC, however Tracy says she will continue in her role if she’s accepted for the second term.
“It’s important there’s a regional voice in organisations like Fire and Emergency”.
Asked if she’d recommend joining a LAC to others, Tracy says she would “highly recommend it to people with strong community networks and an ability forge new connections”.
“Being able to bring people together and facilitate effective stakeholder engagement is important. The value of our work is in being able to be an accessible connection and a voice of community needs and expectations to provide context for the future planning of Fire and Emergency”.
The LAC role and getting to know the District Managers and their teams also “gave us insight into the range of the work that Fire and Emergency does beyond the highly visible suited up firefighting role”, Tracy says.
“This has given us a real appreciation and understanding of the extent of the organisation’s role and the difference Fire and Emergency makes to our community and the people behind it”.