Typically and predictably, Brendan Nottle is feeling a little embarrassed. The Salvation Army stalwart has been named Melburnian of the Year, and admits to feeling uncomfortable with the personal attention.
”Oh yeah, I do,” he says. ”I think it’s a reflection of the commitment of the team, not just what I do. It’s broader than me.”
The team is the 23 workers and 1000 volunteers who operate out of the Salvation Army’s city base at the Parliament end of Bourke Street – essentially a mission to the many disadvantaged and troubled, the often forgotten citizens of the world’s most liveable city.
At the helm is Major Nottle, working closely with his wife, Sandra, providing unseen but vital help to those in need. For the homeless, it is a safe and secure place to stay, or a hot meal. Or in the early hours of Saturday or Sunday, help for a young person whose night has gone wrong and is suddenly vulnerable.
He is, of course, much more than the person in charge. The 49-year-old father of three is invariably on streets himself, or staffing the Outreach Van providing meals. He often does this on only a few hours’ sleep.
”I’m not sure if it’s an illness that I have or something that causes me to get out of bed and be out on the streets,” he jokes. ”One of the drivers for me is I actually love Melbourne … Some of the work that we do actually helps make the city a better place for all.”
At the Town Hall on Saturday night, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle presented the award, describing Major Nottle’s devotion to strengthening Melbourne’s social fabric as inspirational.
Major Nottle tells his team that they are in the business of saving lives – in the depths of winter, for example, getting a homeless person with a mental illness into hospital, or safe, clean accommodation.
Winter also means that he is working as the chaplain for the Collingwood Football Club. ”I started to look at the whole game from a different perspective,” he says. ”When you’re on the inside and start to hear the stories of particularly some of the younger players and you know some of the battles that they’re having, you really desperately want them to succeed.”
He goes on the ground before the game and kicks the ball as the players warm up. It helps them relax. ”Nathan Buckley said to me once, do you wear moccasins when you kick the football? That’s how bad my kicking was.”
But he also exposes the players to another world. At least once a week, Collingwood players will be out on the Outreach Van with him where he gets to know them better.
He tells them they can use their influence and celebrity to make a difference. A great example involves former AFL players Paul Licuria, Joel Bowden and Mark Bolton, who were helping out on the van when they encountered a homeless boy.
They were jolted into action, creating the Ladder project, which operates a youth refuge in Richmond, with AFL players mentoring young people.
Ask him to reflect on our compassion as a city and he offers the example of young people late at night helping out other young people who are strangers to them. Or the man who shoved $50 into his hand one night recently. He had his wife had been out for an anniversary dinner, and the meal was terrible. The $50 was his ”fine” for getting the night wrong.
But Major Nottle also offers some advice. We are a well-off city and country, but he still hears complaints in the media and hears people say that they are not getting enough. ”I just think we always have to keep coming back and reminding people that if we want to be regarded as an effective community, then we need to be looking out for each other, particularly the most vulnerable.
”I think that needs to be a key determinant about whether we are a healthy community or not. Not what the economic indicators suggest, it’s about how we’re treating each other.”
