Parkes Phoenix Editor

The National BBQ Championships are coming up and the Forbes BBQ Society have recently announced that Better Homes & Gardens chef Ed Halmagyi has been secured for the event. “The BBQ Championships are about bringing
people together, having a bit of fun and putting Forbes on the map,” said NBC Committee President Chris Roylance, applauding the committee’s hard work in the effort to provide extra value at the event and more to see and do for both competitors and spectators.

The 2015 BBQ Championships will offer everything you would associate with the traditional Aussie BBQ including tasting plates, cheese and wine sampling. There are four categories of meat to be judged such as chicken, beef, pork and lamb. This year the National BBQ Championships have teamed up with Relay for Life so both events will be held at the same venue.

“It just works,” said Chris. “Two major events coming together provides the community and the region with the opportunity to come together to celebrate, raise funds for a good cause and just have a really good time.” Both events will be held at South Circle Forbes on Saturday 17 October and both committees are encouraging everyone in the community to come along and get involved.

Yoorana Gunya Family Healing Centre is a wonderful community spot located in Forbes that can help with holistic care, social and mental health, social and emotional wellbeing, medical and nursing care. The Centre opened in August 2012 and has since progressed from being a little house in town to now being an equipped, purpose designed
facility.

A wide range of services are available to individuals through the centre, including transport services, access to a variety of specialists, sexual health services and much more. The Centre is an initiative trying to ‘close the gap’ and aside from Forbes also services Parkes, Peak Hill, Condobolin, Cowra, Lake Cargelligo and Murrin Bridge.

“We do quite a lot,” says Donna Bliss at Yoorana Gunya. “It’s not just for Aboriginal people to access either, everyone is welcome here.” “We have funding for specialists in drug and alcohol counselling and a partnership with Lachlan Health.”

The best thing about Yoorana Gunya Family Healing Centre is the relaxed and friendly atmosphere; it lacks the clinical vibe that some centres have. Aboriginal artwork lines the colourful hallways and there are many different spaces to utilise. Also, the staff at Yoorana Gunya love their job and the work they do. “I like the people I work with and I love my job,” says Rachael Morgan. “There is a fair bit of autonomy. I love promoting health and helping people get on track with their health needs.” Bulk billing is available at Yoorana Gunya.

The Forbes High School NAIDOC Debating Team have won the Western title for the second year in a row after successfully debating against Cowra High School in the final held in Dubbo on Monday 17 August.

The Forbes team consisted of 4 students; two who are Aboriginal and two who are non- Aboriginal. Year 10 students Madison Collits, Nic Mulligan and Jessy-lea Byrnes as well as Whitney Duffy from Year 7 had to debate the topic “that all sacred lands should be handed back to their traditional owners”. As per this particular competition, students
needed to prepare a case for both agreeing and opposing the statement, and then had the opportunity to present both cases at the event in Dubbo.

They first debated Lithgow High School using their affirmative case, announcing that they had moved onto the final against Cowra High School who the team had previously beaten at the Lachlan level of the competition. In the final, the students debated the negative case and ultimately convinced the adjudicators and the audience that their case was the strongest.

A special mention was made to Whitney Duffy of Year 7 who scored the highest and was announced as speaker of the day by the adjudicator. This is a fantastic outcome for Whitney considering she was up against Year 12 students. The team and teachers also thanked Paige Thomas from Year 8 who helped the team to win at the Lachlan level and wrote one of the speeches.

The Forbes students will now progress to the state finals to be held at Sydney Parliament House in November where they will defend their title as 2014 State Champions. While in Sydney the students will enjoy a cruise around Sydney Harbour and have dinner on Cockatoo Island. “This is quite an excellent reward for their hard work in reaching the State level of the competition,” Anita Morrison from Forbes High School said.