Rob Stanley-Jones says thanks to all who came to ''Get Well Glenn!''

About a week ago I drove past the crash site in Woolooware Road where Glenn Wheeler was injured and a very thoughtful and caring person had wrapped a ‘‘Get well soon Glenn’’ sign around the power pole nearby.

I remember thinking ‘‘gee people are nice to do that’’ and it inspired me to come up with a way the whole shire could say the same to Glenn. (I have since met the little girl who made the sign — she was introduced to me on Saturday morning and I shed a tear at the fact that everything had come together so well, and here was this little girl who had inspired me to make it happen).

I remember being at a Relay for Life Organising Committee meeting and when it was my turn to talk, I said ‘‘we need to do something nice for Glenn Wheeler — not only has he helped make our Relay event more successful over the years, but also plenty of other community events, and specifically charity fundraisers, where he’s normally the MC and/or auctioneer, and he’s also usually doing it for free’’.

So after sharing the idea at that meeting, I started making phone calls and sending emails to various people; some are great friends I’ve known for years, some are acquaintances I’ve met through my work in hospitality and other community groups and some I had never spoken to before. 

I had a fairly good feeling they would be supportive of what I was trying to achieve, just through their connection with Glenn and their desire to help him and also to be supportive to his family.  

Before speaking with any of them I made a call to Dane Wheeler to check that the family would be OK with the idea. I’ve still got his text message back: ‘‘Mum would love that, thank you mate.’’

My first challenge was beach availability and with fantastic support from Brad Whittaker and Sutherland Shire Council, along with the Elouera Surf Life Saving Club, we were able to choose the date, and the fact that we’d be sharing the love on Valentine’s Day was a bonus! 

I then made a call to good mate Brett Richardson from Ohana Ocean Athletics. Not only is he a guy who has great community connections through his work with the council and Elouera Surf Life Saving Club, he is also one of the most generous blokes you’ll meet, both with his time and also financial support.

Another call was made to Luke Barbuto from Payne Pacific Estate Agents, who I work with on our Relay for Life Committee, to help with logistics. Also his wife Inga Barbuto, who has her own graphic design company Pink Creative. 

No sooner had I mocked up a scrawly image in my diary of what I wanted the promotional flyer to look like and the very talented Inga had brought it to life so professionally — and in such a short space of time — working late into the night to make it happen. 

Not to mention being bombarded the following day with additional requests for different file sizes, formats etc, nothing was a problem.  I think a lot of people underestimate the power of a good graphic image to capture people’s attention and make them want to be a part of something awesome.

The Leader chief photographer John Veage was next on my list: ‘‘John, here’s my idea, and if we end up getting a helicopter, I want you to be the one taking the official photo’’. John is another community guy who is always there when you need him and never asks for anything in return. I’m sure everyone will agree the end result looks phenomenal.

Next call, Glenn Gorick, local police sergeant, triathlete and supporter of many charities: ‘‘Hey Glenn, do you know anyone who owns a helicopter?’’ An hour later, he called me back: ‘‘Hey Rob, we’ve got a helicopter!’’ 

Now it’s time to thank pilot Mark Donohue from HTT — Helicopter Training & Transport at Bankstown. Knowing the costs and logistics involved, this guy gave his time and helicopter totally free of charge — what an absolute legend.  

Within a day we had official clearance to use Wanda Helipad, thanks again to the team at Sutherland Shire Council. We’d also since secured three drone cameras thanks to Jarryd Sullivan from Assist Drones Australia, so we knew we’d have brilliant footage, again, totally free. 

Big LED screens were next on the list, easy when you own a company called LiveSites ... leading suppliers of LED screens for community events.

We also had help from Peter from Octopus Media who has screens, which meant we could co-ordinate the formation of the ‘‘Get Well’’ message with ease from the surf club.  

Probably one of my favourite moments on Saturday morning was yelling on the microphone ‘‘a little bit to the left’’ and watching the drone footage of the crowd doing exactly as instructed with military precision, to make the message look even better.

The crowd was able to hear me due to the awesome efforts of well-known shire identity Phill Bates, who heads up Phill Bates Sports Promotions and also the famous Bates Bikes at Hurstville, who assembled all his audio equipment the day before, assisted by another member of our Relay for Life Committee, Craig Winstanley, from CWE Audio Visual.  

These guys both do so much for our community, I would urge  everyone reading this to consider using their services. They are absolute professionals and again, like others mentioned, extremely generous with their time and expertise.

With a few more logistics to work through, it was time to call my mate Rod Coy, chairman of our Relay for Life Committee, and a bloke you definitely can rely on. Doesn’t matter what you need, he will make it happen, and he, along with Luke Barbuto, took charge of ensuring the marshalling on the beach went off without a hitch.

Next it was the team at Highland Property Agents, who came to the party with food and beverage, but also with their events team to assist with letter marshalling — a crucial element to ensuring the success of the message formation.

As far as getting the word out about the event, having flyers and posters printed on the same day by Cliff Lewis Printing for no cost was another huge help, along with help from Jeff Morris and Scott Maxworthy at Sharks, with engaging the team to be down there, and also huge plugs on their database and social media, the event was soon gaining momentum.

Ben Fordham from 2GB was one of my early calls and the support I received from him was unbelievable.  Our first conversation was along the lines of ‘‘yes mate, I know the whole community wants to help, but what you’re trying to do is quite a logistical challenge’’.

He rang me later in the week pretty much apologising for underestimating the way in which our community would get behind this and pull it all together in such a short time.

Next we were hearing about it on talkback every day, including outside broadcasts and 30-second promotional advertisements, again all in support of wishing Glenn well.

After about three days of sitting outside the surf club on the phone and email (thanks again club), and engaging a heap of other local people and organisations (like Tradies, where I now work as a duty manager, and am surrounded by a team that is totally committed to serving the community), it all came together.  

There will be people that have helped that I have not mentioned, story, but please know that I and everyone else involved appreciates your support. (Such as the gentleman from Bangor who heard on 2GB that we needed megaphones and delivered his immediately to Gymea Tradies for me to pick up).

Now it’s time to engage Trevor, the guy who rang me and said: ‘‘I have a picture framing business in Caringbah and I’d love to frame the official photo’’. Yet another example of the wonderful community support that’s been offered.

It sounds like a cliche, but Saturday morning was in my mind the best example of community spirit that I have ever had the privilege to not only organise, but more importantly, to be a part of. 

So in passing on my best wishes and thanks to Glenn’s family for being with us on the day, I have one more thing to say: ‘‘Get well Glenn!’’.

Rob Stanley-Jones