BY JEM ANSHAW
Erroll and Beryl Bates have dedicated more than 15 years to the Scone Westpac Rescue Helicopter Support Group, after being founding members when the service reached out to find interested Scone residents.
The pair have worn their red shirts with pride for countless barbecues, merch and raffle tables and gate duties at events in the Upper Hunter, but they have made the call to step down from doing what they love.
“It’s a great cause, I could see it was a terrific cause, because if someone needed help in Scone or in this district, that thing was a blessing, a lifesaver. So, I thought, well, we’ve got to be involved with this one,” Erroll recalled when discussing how it all started.
“We started off selling raffle tickets, then we got into the barbecues, different organisations would reach out and ask are you guys be interested in doing a barbecue for XYZ?.”
They would get a donation for doing events and became well known for their barbecues, the pair shared with a laugh.
Beryl has spent countless hours over the years at street stalls where they interacted with the community and it became very clear how important the Westpac Rescue Helicopter truly is.
“The number of people that come along and say, oh, a family member of mine has used it, one lady came along and three members of her family had used it,” she said.
This ability to connect with the community has been such a powerful part of the couple’s time as volunteers, with a number of stories being shared about the relationships that have formed over time.
From the jovial quips exchanged at the gate of local Group 21 matches, the strappers and crew at Scone Race Club who appreciated having food close by on busy race days, and perhaps most importantly the team they had around them at every event.
“We’ve had a really good group over the years, we had a lot to start with, but then they’ve got older, and then people had other things to do and drifted away, but we’ve still got a really good group,” Beryl shared.
“When it comes time to raise funds, I’d ring them and say we’ve got such and such on, or send them an email, who’s available, and they come and say I can do such and such and that’s the way we’ve gone with it.
“We just had no reason to ever not do it, but then it just got the stage where we’re getting older, and I just couldn’t continue to do all that we’ve been doing.”
In 2024 Erroll and Beryl were on the ground when the Westpac Rescue Helicopter popped by to thank Scone Grammar School for all their fundraising efforts.
Getting to see the kids excitement at being up close to the impressive machine was special for them, even though the visit had to be cut short due to an emergency requiring the helicopter’s assistance.
In the early years of the Scone support group they took some tours of the base in Broadmeadow and attended the fundraising ball last year in Singleton which they absolutely loved.
The decision to step away from actively fundraising for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter is one Erroll and Beryl are comfortable with; they are looking forward to having some time to enjoy their family who live out of the area and make up for the moments missed because of fundraising commitments.
“It’ll be strange, but we’ve got a car out there and it needs to put some miles on it,” Erroll said with a laugh.
“I mean, I’m sad that we’ve given it up but we don’t have any regrets,” Beryl added.
“I’m sad that we’re going to miss that camaraderie with the group. We’ll still see them, it’s not like we’re moving away, but I’m in two minds about it still.”
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service Scone Support Group welcomes anyone who would like to become part of the organisation to keep on fundraising.
They can be contacted via Facebook, or by emailing the publicity officer on mbull.mb46@gmail.com.
