Community Spotlight: Ipswich HIN2H Local Heroes Day

Published Tue 24 Jun 2025

Last Saturday Ipswich Hockey Association ran Local Heroes Day connecting their HookIn2Hockey juniors with local emergency services personnel. Read the full story from Lily and Hannah below:

Our Local Heroes Day was a massive success with 17 'local heroes' volunteering to come out to display their vehicles and equipment, play with our Hookin2Hockey juniors and interact with the Ipswich Hockey community.

The event was designed to bring our hockey community together to support our youngest players and give the community a chance to interact with and appreciate the work of local emergency service workers including SES first-response teams, local firefighters, paramedics, police officers and police recruits. Unfortunately, we were unable to get the ADF this year but are hopeful for their attendance in 2026.

Often, members of the community don't get the opportunity to interact with emergency service workers in a happy and positive environment, so this morning was enabling our youngest community members to build trust with these lifesaving members of the community.

The highlight of the morning for the junior players was exploring the first response vehicles which are often only seen when whizzing past. They were able to sit in all the vehicles, ask questions, take some awesome photos and develop positive relationships with first responders.

“The morning was fabulous, everyone had a great time - first responders, children and families. I couldn't have been happier with the turnout and can't wait for bigger and better things in years to come!” said Ipswich Hockey Community Engagement Officer, Hookin2Hockey Coordinator and Local Heroes Day Mastermind Hannah Simpson.

- Lily McAuliffe-Winton, Community Engagement