The Forbes Betta store has won a major award at the Betta Stores Retail Group’s conference held in Japan recently.

Forbes Betta took out the Betta Home Living Retailer of the Year award after being judged on a range of criteria including branding, sales, service and community engagement.

The Forbes store is owned and operated by Ian and Mandy Westcott, who are the second generation in their family to own and operate the Parkes and Forbes Betta stores. “We greatly appreciate winning the Retailer of the Year award, after all the hard work that everyone has put in. It’s such a privilege to receive this award. We are extremely grateful for all the support we have received from the Forbes community,” said Ian.

BSR Group Chief Executive Officer Graeme Cunningham congratulated Ian and Mandy for their outstanding efforts over the past 12 months in the furniture and bedding field. Graeme goes onto explain: “Our Retailer of the Year has constantly showed exceptional commitment to looking after their local community as well as the Betta brand.”

“Betta Home Living continues to strive to grow in the furniture and bedding field and Forbes has made a remarkable contribution to the success of the business over the past 12 months”.

AMAZING CAKES TO BUY AND BAKE

Sugarcraft is your one-stop shop if you are looking for quality wedding cakes and decorating supplies. They also have a large range of cake decorating equipment. At Sugarcraft you will find an assortment of cakes such as cupcakes, traditional and tiered. They are open Monday to Friday from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Gluten free and themed cakes can be made upon customers’ request.

Sugarcraft offers a wide variety of cakes such as Mud Cakes, Fruit Cake, Chocolate Mud Cake, Caramel Mud Cake, White Chocolate Mud Cake, White Chocolate Mud Cake with Raspberry Swirl and many other flavours. You can visit them at Shop 28 in The Orange Arcade, 142-146 Summer Street in Orange or contact them on 02 6361 3434.

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOUMIGHT FIND

Eclectic Orange has a mix of new and second- hand furniture, home decor, clothing and accessories. If you’re into funky and retro, vintage or industrial, Eclectic is the place to go.

Maybe you’d like to find a one-off piece, or you’re intrigued by unusual items. Everyone likes to find a unique piece, whether it be for the home or yourself. Eclectic Orange derive ideas, style and tastes from a broad and diverse range of sources – a store where you never know what you might find.

HANDMADE QUALITY JEWELLERY

Your natural beauty can be complimented with the right choice of precious metals and gemstones.

At Second Chance Collectables in Orange you can select from a range of quality rings and jewellery handmade in Australia from quality gold and natural gemstones: rubies, emeralds, sapphires, aquamarine and of course diamonds.

All handcrafted by one of Australia’s longest established manufacturers of quality jewellery!

Engagement rings, dress rings, bangles, bracelets, neck chains and earrings. Visit Second Chance Collectables at 149 Peisley Street Orange, phone 6369 1513 or email second.chance@bigpond.com

FAIR TRADE ETHNIC CLOTHES AND GIFTS

If you shop with your conscious, Cinnabar in Orange is the place to go to find well sourced ethnic clothing and gifts.

“We always try and source fair trade products, and if possible from the same ladies if not village,” says Nyasa from Cinnabar. “We keep a wide variety of mixed price items so there is hopefully something for every budget.”

If you like to support locally, Cinnabar has products hand made in the Orange area. To round off an enjoyable shopping trip, why not enjoy tea or coffee and a slice in the courtyard?

Forbes Town Hall was recently packed to capacity with citizens who had come to hear the Seeds of Hope Choir from Ndola, a large city in Zambia.

The choir was composed of teenaged students of the Grace Academy, which is run by the Canadian charity, Seeds of Hope. The audience responded enthusiastically to the singing of songs in the student’s native language, accompanied by clapping, dancing and drums.

What many in the audience may not have known when they entered the Town Hall is that the students who sang and danced had all been affected by AIDS in their native country. Some of them told their stories. Most are orphans who have lost their parents to the disease, which had also been passed on to them.

Because of the improvement in AIDS treatment, they will now live normal lives with the help of Seeds of Hope which pays for this treatment and most hoped to become professionals who will help their country rise out of poverty and disease. They sang their hearts out in thanks for the future they can look forward to, thanks to Seeds of Hope and those who donate to it.

Many in the audience would not have realised also that the choir made only a few appearances on the East Coast of Australia, and two of these were Forbes and Parkes.

The Rotary Club of Forbes has helped the Zambian orphanage by sponsoring Daniel Greef, a policeman based in Parkes. Daniel’s expenses on his three visits to Ndola have been partly funded by Forbes Rotary, with the rest funded out of his own pocket. Daniel has been part of a team which has constructed classrooms and dormitories for Grace Academy.

If you wish to know more please contact the Rotary Club Forbes Secretary, Christine Hawke on 0409 661 358 or Google Seeds of Hope Australia.

Contributed By Rotary Club

Industrial Law…Payslips

Is your employer complying with the Fair Work Act and its regulations in providing payslips with the correct information.

Payslips are required to disclose:

• the employer’s name and ABN;

• the employee’s name;

• the date of payment and pay period;

• the gross and net amount of payment;

• any loadings, monetary allowances, bonuses, incentive based payments, penalty rates, or other separately identifiable entitlement paid;

• If the employee is paid an hourly pay rate, the ordinary hourly pay rate and the number of hours worked at that rate and the amount of payment made at that rate;

• If the employee is paid an annual rate of pay (salary), the rate as at the last day in the pay period;

• Any deductions made, including the name, or the name and number, of the fund or the account of each deduction including superannuation contributions for the benefit of the employee and the name and number of the fund.

Payslips maybe sent electronically to the employee provided it complies with the above and the employee agrees to such electronic posting.

Employers are also required to keep records of this information for at least seven years and a Fair Work Inspector has the right to inspect such records without any search warrant.

It is an offence not to comply with these requirements and an employee may be able to recover not only any back pay but may with the court’s approval recover the fine from the employer in some circumstances.

If you have questions on Industrial Law or anything else, please contact any of our solicitors at Matthews Williams.

Spring is upon us and it won’t be long before thoughts turn to summer and swimming, but is your pool safe?

Forbes Shire Council is urging residents to review their pool safety before summer arrives.

Forbes Shire Council’s Acting General Manager Max Kershaw said it was vital to ensure your pool has a compliant barrier. Pool gates need to be self-closing and the gap between the bottom of the barrier and the ground should be no more than 100mm.

“It is also very important that you check for bushes, vegetation and other climbable objects located in close proximity to the pool barrier and take appropriate action to reduce this risk,” said Max.

Portable and inflatable pools also have barrier requirements where they can be filled to a depth of 300mm or greater, however spas are exempt if they have a lockable cover.

Inadequate supervision is a factor in 59% of drownings and Max said supervision was vital to reducing drowning death.

“Pool barriers can and do reduce the risk but the most important safety measure is to ensure you are always supervising people in the pool, especially children,”Max said.

Local woman, Grace Allen was sashed as the new Forbes Showgirl last Friday night. However, she hasn’t had time to bask in the splendour of winning the title. Instead, Grace is already back on duty fulfilling her role as a nurse in ICU at the Orange Hospital.

Grace was born and bred in Forbes and lived on their family property until she moved to Orange for work. Her goals for the future are to complete the Critical Care program through Orange Health. She is also looking forward to give it her all as the proud representative of Forbes at the zone judging held next February in Blayney.

Grace entered the Showgirl competition to ensure that the event would continue in future and that one day her children could have the same experiences as what she did at the shows.

Whilst representing Forbes as the Miss Showgirl, Grace is looking forward to promoting the show and getting everyone excited about the 2018 Forbes Show. She is also eager to meet up with the other Showgirl ambassadors at the etiquette course in January.