As more than 200,000 Year 12 students across Australia prepare for their ATAR ex­ams, the stress they face highlights a bigger national issue: too many young Australians are entering adulthood without the coping skills to manage life’s challenges. Without those tools, pressures can accumulate and contribute to serious mental health con­sequences – with suicide now the leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds.

At the same time, the Federal Govern­ment is preparing to tighten restrictions on young people’s access to social media, acknowledging growing concerns about its role in anxiety, loneliness, cyberbullying and harmful self-comparison. While reduc­ing harmful online influences may provide some relief, bans alone will not solve the problem. Children also need to be equipped with the skills to manage stress, build resil­ience, and seek support much earlier.

LifeChanger Foundation is a preventa­tive youth mental health and wellbeing non-profit that empowers young people to thrive. Through evidence-based school and community programs, it builds the social, emotional and resilience skills young peo­ple need to navigate life’s challenges.

For information about LifeChanger www.lifechanger.org.au

Henry from Parkes has been staying with Ronald McDonald House, on and off, since before he was born.

During a routine antenatal checkup in Parkes, Lou and Gary were advised to travel to Orange hospital immediately where Lou was admitted that night and Garry was luckily offered a room at Ron­ald McDonald House Central West, within walking distance of the Hospital.

The next day Lou was asked to stay in Orange so that their baby could continue to be monitored. Lou was 22 weeks at this stage, and Ronald McDonald House in Orange became their ‘home away from home’.After two weeks the decision was made to transfer to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit suit­able for premature babies in anticipation of Henry’s arrival.

“The staff in Orange went out of their way to assist with travel and transfer arrange­ments,” said Garry. This also included booking them a room at Ronald McDonald House in Newcastle. “It eases the financial pressures and the physical toll of having to be a distance away.”

Henry didn’t keep Lou and Garry waiting long once they arrived in Newcastle – he was born the next day, at 24 weeks weigh­ing 560 grams.

To help support Henry, and kids just like him, you can enter the Ronald McDonald House Central West raffle and go in the draw to win a Hyundai Kona.

Simply buy a $25 ticket to enter and you’ll be in the draw to win, plus you’ll also be helping Ronald McDonald House sup­port sick kids from across the Central West.­All proceeds from the raffle stay in the Central West at Ronald McDonald House Central West and help support families with sick and injured children from across the region.

To learn more about Ronald McDonald House Central West and buy a ticket in the raffle to win a Hyundai Kona visit their website at www.rmchcwnsw.org.au

During the month of August, Jason Wood­house of Forbes will be fundraising in memory of his son Corey Woodhouse, who he lost almost two years ago to suicide. All funds raised will be donated to Kids Hel­pline and Headspace.

Corey was only 14 years old when he tragically took his own life and Jason said to his wife Michelle, “We need to do some­thing. No one should feel this pain.” Jason wants Corey’s short time in this world to mean something and he wants to show Co­rey’s siblings, Kaylee and Jaxon, and other young kids, that help is out there.

“It took too long to get the help Corey needed in the year prior to Corey taking his life, and as parents we didn’t know where to get help. So, I need to help educate parents and kids where to go if they need help,” said Jason.

Corey loved everything about planes – he was always making paper planes and even started flying lessons at the age of 13. The people of Forbes and Parkes can assist during August by purchasing paper planes to write their name on, from their local Bernardi’s Marketplace, Discount Daves Parkes or Coles Parkes. People can also donate raffle or auction items and drop them to Bernardi Forbes (Kathrine Wright) and Coles Parkes (Hope Ross).

The community is invited to an auction being held Saturday 23 August at 5pm for 6pm start at the Forbes Bowling Club, on the bowling ground. Businesses can help by donating items to the auction; all money raised will go to Kids Helpline and Head­space. Forbes Livestock will be assisting on the evening as auctioneer.

Then, on Sunday 24 August, Jason will be holding a free mental health event, where kids and parents, can be educated on the range of services available if they need help. Local service providers will be set up on the day to provide information and speak to people.

It will be a great family day out with givea­ways, face painting, bracelet making, rock painting, a paper plane making and throw­ing activity, and a BBQ run by the Forbes Lion’s Club.

 

For a decade now, Parkes local Kristy Ber­ry and her extended group of friends and family have been raising funds and aware­ness for MND through The Big Freeze. For the last nine years the group have taken to Kristy’s family pool, with the family donat­ing for each person brave enough to take the plunge.

Kristy’s grandfather, great grandmother and a cousin all passed away from MND.

Kristy said “I have very vivid memories of what this beast actually puts sufferers through.”

“I mainly wanted to help not only raise money but awareness of MND. Prior to Neale Denier and the AFL starting the Big Freeze 11 years ago, there wasn’t much awareness around MND”.This year Kristy wanted to up the ante, so she spoke to Terri and Tony from The Coachman Hotel and both were on board to get involved, and make a night of it.

“Then we approached Bella Thom­son and Sammy Dwyer from the Parkes Spacemen to see if they would take to the ice water, and neither hesitated. We auc­tioned off a 2025 signed Spacemen Jersey and a framed Saint George photo collage.

The Parkes Spacemen Old Boys held their meat raffles and donated the takings on the night,” said Kristy.

There evening was well supported by the Parkes Spacemen, family, friends and the community. Bella, Sam, John and Tony all took to the iced pool and freezing water was poured over them. It was topped off with the band Hope Held Hostage. An im­pressive $2,750 was raised and plans are already in place for a bigger event in 2026.

If you want to help you can still donate to the cause by following the link https://sup­port.fightmnd.org.au/s/5655/6228.

The BreastScreen NSW mobile screening van will be in Forbes from Monday 18 Au­gust to Monday 13 October, 2025. Breast­Screen NSW provides free breast screening to all women over 40 to support the early detection of breast cancer.

Deon Adamson, Manager, BreastScreen NSW (Greater Western) says a regular breast screen is one of the most important things women can do for their health.

“Detecting breast cancer early increases your chance of survival while reducing the likelihood of invasive treatment.”

“Around 90 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history.

This is why breast cancer screening is so important.”

Ms Adamson says having a BreastScreen NSW van in Forbes makes it easier for women to attend their recommended twoyearly screening.

“Bringing these vital services to Forbes means more local women can be screened.

Life gets busy and we want women to make their health a priority.”

The BreastScreen NSW van will be lo­cated in Harold Street (near the Ceno­taph), Forbes NSW 2871. An appointment with BreastScreen NSW is free, takes less than 20 minutes and no doctor’s referral is needed. BreastScreen NSW provides free screening mammograms to women over the age of 40. Any woman with a family history of breast cancer should discuss their spe­cific needs with their GP. Anyone with breast symptoms should contact their GP or health worker without delay.

The mobile clinic visiting Forbes is equipped with a lift system to support wom­en with health conditions or disability to have their mammogram. Women with addi­tional needs are encouraged to let us know when booking.

Have your breast screen at our mobile BreastScreen NSW van in Forbes and you will be entered in the draw to win a delicious hamper.

To book a free mammogram visit book.breastscreen.nsw.gov.au or call 13 20 50.

It’s the early hours of the morning and it’s suddenly still and very quiet. The sheep are silent, huddled together, the crickets have stopped their noisy rendition of Mozart; everything is in quiet anticipation. And then I hear it – the patter of the first rain drops on the tin roof. I open the window wide, and smell the scent of rain on fresh lawn, water droplets on eucalyptus leaves, rain sinking deep into the garden beds.

It’s the rain we’ve been waiting for, that we’ve needed for months. It’s finally here. I envisage the patter of rain on the dried up dam beds, the gentle flow of water down a creek bed that has been empty for months.

I know he’s heard it too, “thank you God,” he mutters, the livelihood of a farm at the hands of the weather.

The human body needs water to – and probably more than you think. I read an interesting story about a doctor who found himself in prison in Ukraine. Since it was well known that he was a doctor, people started coming to him for advice for vari­ous illnesses. He didn’t have any access to medication and the only resource available to him to prescribe was water. “Drink a cup of water every hour” he’d say to someone, initially as a placebo effect, maybe it would work. With surprise, he started to see that many illnesses, diseases were improved or eradicated, simply by individuals drinking more water. He was so intrigued that when they let him go, he asked to stay impris­oned to study his findings.

I remember it was always my mother’s “go-to” choice of remedy. Sore throat, l

headache, belly ache, achy joints? “Go have a drink of water.” She’d say. I used to think that it was just out of laziness (and now as a parent myself, I resonate deeply with her approach!) but now I’m wondering if she was on to something.

I know what you’re thinking. This isn’t for me. If I drank more water, I’d be rushing to the toilet all day and all night or my blad­der would leak! Well, maybe you’re already drinking the correct amount of water. Or maybe, your bladder isn’t used to holding large amounts of water and has gotten lazy or is irritated by the caffeine in your diet (ever wondered why you get the urge to go multiple times after coffee or tea? Caffeine irritates the bladder.) Start with half a glass in the morning, be­fore you put the kettle on or warm the cof­fee machine up. Have another half a glass when you feel a bit peckish mid-morning, and again when the post-lunch siesta hits and you wish you lived in a country where it was socially acceptable to knock off work for an hour nap in the middle of the day.

Grab another cup before you reach for your usual evening beverage and swap any caf­feine out for decaf (yes there is caffeine in green tea – sorry!) and you might notice your bladder behaves a bit better overnight.

Cheers to water drinking, not quite as flashy as champagne, but certainly the quiet achiever.

Did you know we offer help with bladder incontinence? To book in, please give us a call.

Rach x

The shortage of doctors in regional Austral­ia has been something that has impacted most, if not all of us. Evolution has proudly partnered with Charles Sturt University (CSU) School of Rural Medicine to provide a space for a training program with the aim of helping address the shortage.

CSU’s Rural Doctors Program trains and develops medical students who want to re­main living and working in regional areas.

Unfortunately, until now, there has not been a facility to run this program in Parkes.

Northparkes will provide the space for this program, which will have 11 Central West medical students based out of the fa­cility from the day it opens.

Local GP Kerrie Stewart said we have a pipeline of some of the best students in Australia, who we know want to stay local.

“They were raised here and have families here. This space is the opportunity we have been waiting for,” she said.

The program will provide more access to medical services through clinician lead clinics with student involvement for things like health checks, childhood vaccinations, and more.

The building will be a shared space and contain the Northparkes Town Office, a purpose-built training facility and the CSU Rural Doctors Program.

Four of the eleven students who are local to Parkes and Forbes have indicated they will stay in the area once they have com­pleted their studies.

Fourth year student Antez Vargese said “I wanted to do medicine straight after high school but I went and did radiography for a year first, and when I found out about this program, it was close to home, my friends, my community, it just made sense.

The students will each complete five years of medical school and then go on to be an intern and then a resident before de­ciding what to specialise in.