Tuesday, 25 August 2026
RFS Brigade member Adhav Pillai has completed the journey of a lifetime aboard the Young Endeavour following a 10-day journey from Sydney to Brisbane.
As a young member of the Cherrybrook Rural Fire Brigade Adhav’s journey has been supported by the RFSA, through its Gary Barton Memorial Scholarship program.
The Young Endeavour Youth Development Program is delivered by professional Royal Australian Navy personnel to develop young people’s confidence, foster positive growth, and help them achieve their full potential.
Enabled through a bequest by late RFSA State Councillor and former Division 5 Chair, the Scholarship was established to enhance youth development, supporting young RFSA members to gain valuable leadership skills.
Since the program began in 2023, the program has empowered more than 16 young members to expand their skills and contribute back to their brigades and communities.
“Our Gary Barton Memorial Scholarships enable a fantastic opportunity for our young RFS Members, building resilience, confidence and skills,” RFSA President Scott Campbell AFSM said.
“Adhav is a fantastic example of a young individual with a true community service ethos, who is striving to give back to be the community, through his work at Cherrybrook RFB and Schofields RFB where he’s contributing through a dual membership.
“We can also see he’s an emerging leader, recently participating in the Young Members Leadership College and National Leadership Forum. Adhav has big plans for his RFS journey and he’s hoping to become a crew leader one day.”
“It’s always exciting to see how our Gary Barton Memorial Scholars grow and learn through their experience and bring that back to their Brigade and their community.”
Adhav said it had been so exciting to take part in the Young Endeavour voyage which reached Brisbane last Thursday (20 August).
“I’m really pleased to have had this opportunity to test myself and get out of my comfort zone, I had never done something like this before. It was hard yakka, but I was up for it,” he said.
“This experience taught me to put myself out there and try something new and helped me build my teamwork and leadership skills. I took my camera gear, and captured great shots from the mast!”
RFSA awards 5 Gary Barton Memorial Scholarships each year. Applications for the next round of Scholarships opens later this year.
About the NSW Rural Fire Service Association (RFSA): The RFSA is the representative organisation of the volunteers and staff of the NSW Rural Fire Service, recognised in the Rural Fires Act 1997 (NSW). With over 40,000 members – more than 99% of them volunteers – the RFSA runs a range of assistance programs, including equipment grants for Rural Fire Brigades, sponsorship of RFS events, scholarships, volunteer family days and other mental health support programs, as well as advocating on behalf of members to the agency and government more broadly.
Contact details:
Amy Grodzicki
m: 0448 519 000
