VICSES volunteers celebrate women in rescue with casualty handling exercise in Ballarat

Forty per cent of Ballarat's active members are female, and the diversity within this cohort alone proves age, professional background, or physical ability need not stop anyone getting involved.

Robyn Read, 72, is one of the unit's two female Deputy Controllers.

She joined up three-and-a-half years ago, when her son joined and she lamented she "would have loved to have done something like that" in her younger years.

"[My son] said to me, 'You can'," Robyn said.

"And then meeting the other volunteers, I was given that encouragement to start."

At the lower end of the age spectrum is acting commander Piper Sargent who joined on a whim about four years ago while in the midst of a "depression pit" and is "forever thankful" she's stuck around.

"I was driving past [the station] and was just thinking, 'I can't live like this anymore, something has to change,' so I went in and joined up, and I've stayed," she said.

"It was just something to get me out of bed, doing something useful, helping other people instead of thinking about my own problems."

IN OTHER NEWS:

Fellow members Leonie Sharpe, Jo-Anne Beal and Cat Ogata agreed social connections, community service and skill development were what kept them coming back.

"I work with kids so I wanted somewhere I could interact with adults," Jo-Anne said.

"And I wanted to get my chainsaw qualifications so I could chop wood at home."

Cat has been with the unit for 16 years and said it had "always managed to work through life changes".

"It allows you to be who you are," she said.

"Since I joined I've been single, married, had one kid, then two kids, then three kids.

"At times, it's been like a second family, especially with having young kids - the first people to visit me in hospital after [giving birth] were my SES friends.

"We all have each other's backs."

Robyn said the SES volunteering experience could be as high or low-commitment as each member wanted to make it.

Some ride motorbikes and flood boats, and go on deployment to natural disasters like Black Saturday.

Others prefer 'behind the scenes' and non-operational roles that are just as vital to keeping the unit running and the community safe.

The most common Ballarat callouts are for storms and floods, and assisting police and ambulance services in emergencies such as searching for missing persons.

Find out more at ses.vic.gov.au

Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.