Wear Orange Wednesday

Each year we celebrate Wear Orange Wednesday (WOW Day), a national day of thanks to the thousands of SES volunteers who serve their communities 24 hours a day, seven days a week through storms, floods, rescues, and so much more.

On this page:

About WOW Day

WOW Day (21 May, 2025) is the national day of recognition to say ‘thank you’ to SES volunteers. It is the most proactive day in the VICSES calendar held in the middle of National Volunteer Week (19 - 25 May, 2025).

This year is a particularly special WOW Day on the back of celebrating 50 years of VICSES in March. That’s 50 years of VICSES volunteers providing integral, life-saving emergency response for floods, storms, rescues and more.

In the last 12 months alone our volunteers have responded to over 35,000 requests for assistance to keep our communities safe.

We can't thank our volunteers enough - they truly are heroes in orange.

“Our roof tiles were covered in holes and the rain was rushing into nearly every room. We are living as a family of six, including my mum and dad in their 70’s, as well as my kids and husband.

The VICSES volunteers who arrived at our home were calm, approachable, friendly, and knowledgeable - which is exactly what we needed at the time. My family certainly feels blessed to be Victorian. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your did."

Kate Campbell - East Malvern resident affected by major storm damage

Get involved in WOW Day

Celebrating WOW Day

Each year on WOW Day, Victorians are encouraged to get their workplaces,
families, and friends involved in WOW Day celebrations:

Wear orange on Wednesday 21 May!
Post a photo or video to social media to say thank you using the hashtag #ThankYouSES.
Host an orange themed morning tea or encourage your local school or child-care centre to do so.
Put up posters in your workplace to celebrate our volunteers.
Download an SES colouring sheet for the classroom at your local school or kinder.
Get prepared for the risk of storm and flood so you're less likely to need us.

Resources to download and share:

Download social tiles (Zip file, 1.20 MB)
Download A3 poster (PDF, 739 KB)
Download a colouring sheet (PDF, 372 KB)
Download full set of WOW Day 2025 resources (Zip file, 4.38 MB)

WOW Day banner flag and billboard locations

Banner flags and billboards will be prominently displayed across Victoria in recognition of our volunteers this WOW Day.

Check out the locations to spot on the week of WOW Day:

VICSES WOW Day 2025 banner flag and signage locations (PDF 102KB)

All WOW Day banners and signs are kindly funded by AAMI.

AAMI, proud Community Partner of VICSES, have produced prominent digital and static billboards in key locations across Melbourne thanking our volunteers. Look out for the Wear Orange Wednesday billboards on display from 7 May to 21 May.

AAMI's WOW Day Support

AAMI: Supporting WOW Day

AAMI has been a proud Community Partner of VICSES since 2002 to support the incredible work of our VICSES volunteers.

2025 again saw AAMI funding our Wear Orange Wednesday banners and signs across metro Melbourne and regional Victoria.

AAMI have also produced prominent digital and static billboards in key locations thanking our volunteers.

Our partnership with AAMI allows the public to acknowledge the work our volunteers do for their respective communities.