Albany’s Stacey Abbott and Tenterden’s Anne Parsons rewarded for their service on Australia Day honours list

Stacey Abbott jumped at the opportunity to become station manager at her local St John Ambulance sub-centre in 2009, eager to give back to her community. Today, Ms Abbott is rewarded for her hard work and determination, receiving the Ambulance Service Medal on this year’s Australia Day honours list. “I was incredibly honoured, surprised and very humbled that someone would nominate me,” she said. “I’d heard of the award over the years but I didn’t think it’d be something I’d ever receive.” Ms Abbott works closely with her crews, her organisation, and the Albany community to run an efficient depot. She is also involved in the Prevention of Alcohol Related Trauma in Youth program and represents the Albany sub-centre on the Local Emergency Management Committee. “My day is made up of working with some of the most amazing people you’ll ever meet, who do this job and give their time selflessly and I’m just a small part of that,” Ms Abbott said. “It’s an incredibly rewarding job. “You see people in their worst moments of their life but you also see people at their absolute best. “It’s a privilege to do the job I do and to be recognised.” Also recognised on today’s Australia Day honours list is St John Cranbrook sub-centre volunteer Anne Parsons, who has respon-ded to more than 300 emergency calls across the Great Southern since she became a volunteer in 1992. She was elected to the Cranbrook sub-centre committee in 2012, then appointed chairwoman the next year. Since 2014, she has held the position of volunteer development officer, and she has continued to ensure volunteers are well trained and supported. Ms Parsons said when she was told she was receiving the Ambulance Service Medal, she thought they had the wrong person. “I think it symbolises the work all our volunteers do — that’s how I feel about it,” she said. “It’s important to have recognition for volunteers, and there are a lot of good people in the State doing amazing and extraordinary work. “It’s important to me that our country communities have an ambulance service and good health services, and that’s why I do it. “Plus, I don’t know when it might be my turn.”