Bedgerabong Public School teacher Helen Corke says the ‘Community Connection’ program at her school has made a difference to participating students.

The program, which serves to improve skills of children such as gross motor, is one of Bedgerabong Public School’s community engagement and support strategies. The program operates every Thursday from 9.30 to 11.00am during school terms at the school. It is run by classroom teacher Mrs Corke along with Bedgerabong Public School Principal Mr Paul Faulkner.

The program brings a wealth of training and experience in early childhood education, which allows it to offer a wide range of exciting and developmental experiences for the zero to five-year old age group of the Bedgerabong district.

The sessions normally begin with gross motor activities, followed by themed activities based on individual children’s needs. Finally, group activities are then run to foster listening, turn taking and social skills. Close consultation with the mums and dads that participate has lead to the ability to arrange for visiting services including dental checks, visits from the community health speech therapist, and visits from the occupational therapist.

The child health family nurse also attends to provide early childhood checks
and parental support. Mrs Corke said the program was the only one of it’s kind in Bedgerabong, and offered a great service for children and their parents.

“The outreach program is a vital connection with the wider community and gives small rural families the opportunity to access services for their children without travelling large distances,” she said. “The support and attendance rates continue to grow each week. This program is providing the connections that families need to the wider community. We always look forward to Thursday mornings and the special visitors to our school.”

Member for Calare John Cobb has paid tribute to Forbes and Parkes after announcing his retirement from politics last Saturday at the Calare electorate reconstitution meeting in Lithgow.

Mr Cobb, aged 66, was first elected into the federal parliament in 2001, and during this time, there have been three boundary changes to his electorate. The shires of Forbes and Parkes have been the only two shires to remain in his electorate in his entire time as member for Calare.

Ironically, this changed on February 25 when the new federal electorate boundaries of NSW were updated, with Forbes and Parkes now being a part of the Riverina electorate. However, representation will not change until members are elected at the next federal election, which is tipped to be at the
end of this year.

Mr Cobb will continue to represent Forbes and Parkes until he officially retires three weeks before the election, which is yet to be announced. He said he would be sad to leave the representation of Forbes and Parkes, as they have been with him throughout his career. “Forbes and Parkes started as being my
eastern boundary. They’re currently my western boundary,” he said with a laugh.

“Forbes and Parkes have been absolutely phenomenal. I look at them as my security blanket in politics, the place that I know I will hear what I need to hear, without fear or favour.”

In his 15 years overseeing Calare, Mr Cobb said a highlight was the Coalition’s
dealing with the 10-year drought throughout the start of the 2000s. “In 2007 I got John Howard [then Prime Minister] and John Anderson [then Deputy
Prime Minister and Nationals party leader] to a station just west of Forbes,” he said. “There was a big gathering there and Mr Howard was in high demand, and I remember saying to him ‘there’s a couple here who want to talk to you, John, about family and the mental side of drought.’”

“They lost a son and they lost a neighbour’, and he said ‘absolutely’, and I took
him away and introduced them to him, and I can still see him walking under a tree with them, with his arm around both of them, and he gave them 15 minutes.”

“That’s a long time for a Prime Minister, and after that he introduced a mental
health package for drought affected farmers.” Mr Cobb was also happy with aged care infrastructure he has been able to bring, and hopes to see a new dam in Central West NSW built before he retires.

Calare pre-selection was opened at the Lithgow meeting with nominations to close on 19 March and voting to take place on 30 April, in Bathurst.

On Tuesday the Forbes Phoenix gave a presentation on a brand new app due to launch across the Central West. Cheryl Newsom, publisher of the Phoenix, delivered the interactive presentation at the Services Club to 20 attendees including Forbes business owners, council members and the Mayor of Forbes.

During the talk, Cheryl spoke of understanding change and the opportunity it presents. “With this app you can instantly share deals, competitions or coupons to your client base, or as a consumer you can know what your favourite restaurant or shop has on special that day,” she said. After the
presentation those present were invited to trial the app for a month to get used to it and were offered one-on-one training at a later date from iluvlocal representatives, Roselea Buttigieg and Casey Evans.

The Red Cross Blood Service Mobile Unit was in Forbes during the week as part of a campaign to attract more donors. The Blood Service launched their year long campaign at Forbes’ Victoria Park, in an effort to try to attract an additional 115,000 new blood donors during 2016.

The service says it needs to bolster its donor ranks to help combat seasonal donor shortages around long-weekends and cold and flu outbreaks throughout the year.

It also states an estimated nine million Australians are eligible to give blood but only 500,000 actively do so, which is why it is reaching out to those who have never donated before.

The Service’s Mobile Unit was in Forbes between 9:40am and 2:50pm each day between Monday and Thursday this week, with residents lining up to donate their blood.

Blood Service spokesperson Erin Lagoudakis said it hoped the other 8.5 million Australians they estimate could give their blood would jump on board and help out. “Blood donation has been a proud Australian tradition for 87 years and was born out of a need for lifesaving transfusions,” Ms Lagoudakis said.

“The delivery of blood was time critical, and despite many advances that is still the case today, with some critical components unable to be stored longer than one week. “Because there are times when donor numbers are traditionally low, such as long-weekends and cold and flu outbreaks, we need additional donors to come on board between now and the end of the year to continue helping the one in three Australians who will need donated blood in their lifetime.”

Ms Lagoudakis said common tragedies such as cancer diagnoses, road trauma
and blood loss during childbirth were among the regular uses of blood.
“To ensure blood is there when you or a love one needs it, we need more people to sign-up as blood donors. “If more people give blood, then it’s more
likely to be there when you or a loved one needs it later.”

To make blood donations in 2016, call 13 14 95 or visit donateblood.com.au.

Evolution Mining is calling on the community to put forward ideas for Shared Value Projects that will deliver long-term community benefits.

An outline of the initiative was presented to Forbes Shire Council and the Forbes Business Chamber to start a conversation about potential projects. Shared Value Projects are community led initiatives that will continue to benefit the community beyond the life of the mine.

Whilst Evolution may provide funds, skills or equipment to help establish a project, it’s important that any initiative is self-sustaining and not reliant on the mine for ongoing support.

A successful project could take between 1 and 5 years to implement, and must deliver a broad community benefit, rather than only benefiting a small interest group.

A single pool of funds is available across Evolution’s seven operations (approximately $1M/fiscal year but may vary). Money will be granted to projects that deliver the best outcomes for the community and must be based on the community’s needs, not “wants/wish list”. The initiative will operate
in addition to sponsorships and donations (Cowal Partnering Program).

The program has already delivered successful outcomes at Evolution’s Mt Carlton operation through their partnership with Gudjuda Aboriginal Reference Group in Home Hill, QLD. The Shared Value Project to establish a market garden and native plant nursery has created new Indigenous jobs, enabled Gudjuda to deliver new training programs, and generates much needed revenue to grow their training arm. The native plant nursery will also give Evolution access to a local supplier for its regeneration projects.

For more information about Shared Value Projects contact the Cowal Community Relations Department on (02) 6975 3454.

The Forbes PA and H Association will introduce lawnmower racing to this year’s Forbes Show for the first time. The decision to introduce the novelty
event was made at the Association’s recent AGM and Awards ceremony at the Vandenberg Hotel.

Association publicity officer Lucy Pearce said the new event should add a great atmosphere to this year’s show. “It should be plenty of fun for the crowd,
and be something new for Forbes locals to watch, and potentially take part in,” she said.

The event will be titled ‘Show Mow Lawnmower Racing’, and is hoped to be one of the main attractions at this year’s show, which will run on September 9 and 10. The meeting also saw the Association elect their committee and present their annual awards.

‘M & A Dent’ took out the CB Mahlo Shield for Championship Wheat, while ‘Bogabigal Pastoral Co’ won the I Sweeney Shield for the Canola Crop Competition. ‘T & C Morrison Partnership’ won the Greenwood Shield for the Barley Crop Competition, and ‘PM & NG Cronin’ won the Glamis Shield for 1st Cross Ewes.

All other popular activities that have run in the past will also be on show at this year’s Forbes Show, with agriculture, rides, performances and pavilion displays all adding to what is tipped to be a great show this year.

Businesses in Forbes Town Centre have been undergoing improvement works, with at least three shops improving their facilities for customers. Gunn’s Menswear on Rankin Street is undergoing major renovations, and Eyewear

Specs down the road opened for business just this week after renovating their shop. Cint on Rankin Street re-opened on Tuesday after closing while their renovations took place, while the work at Gunn’s have recently started.

Owner of Gunn’s Menswear, Greg Gunn, said renovations at his store would take at least six weeks. “We’re revamping the floors, and the walls are going to go back to their original brick work appearance,” he said.

Mr Gunn also plans to rearrange the items in his store by bringing surf wear from the back to the front right hand side, while work wear and hats will be shifted to the back.

All school wear and embroidery will be moved upstairs, while all mens wear will be located at the front left of the shop, which is the first section currently under renovations. Mr Gunn said he looked forward to seeing the end of the renovations.

“It will be a minimum of six weeks, but there’s every chance it could still be longer, but it will all be worth it at the end of the day,” he said. Eyewear Specs owner Fiona Hayward officially opened her new store on Rankin Street after spending the past few weeks preparing the store.

She said it was great knowing that her store was just one of a handful in Forbes making improvements. “I know Gunn’s and Cint next door are also undergoing renovations, and it’s great to see local businesses making improvements for their local customers,” she said.

“I’m very excited to have opened, but the support of other businesses has been great too.”