Have you seen the Parkes Trishaw getting around town with happy passengers?

Neighbourhood Central’s Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme (ACVVS) is teaming up with Cycling Without Age, Parkes Trishaw, to help continue reducing social isolation for the elderly in Parkes.

Most locals would be familiar with the sight of the Parkes Trishaw taking passengers sightseeing around our beautiful town. Cycling Without Age is a not-for-profit charity that connects those no longer able to ride for themselves with the Parkes community, by providing free rides on trishaw ebikes, piloted by amazing volunteer cyclists.

The aim is to bring something to the elderly that they may no longer be able to do, all while creating meaningful friendships.

The ACVVS is a free program that supports volunteer visits to provide friendship and companionship to older people. Visits are available to anyone receiving government-subsidised residential aged care or Home Care Package (HCP) services who are socially isolated or lonely. This includes care recipients approved or on the National Priority System.

ACVVS accepts referrals from aged care service providers, health professionals, family members and friends. Older people can also refer themselves. While the program excludes those accessing ser­vices from the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP), we have all bases covered, as Neighbourhood Central can help through our Social Support (Individual and Group) aged care ser­vices.

Neighbourhood Central are also in need of more volunteers across both Parkes and Forbes. If you would like to brighten the days of older people as a valued volunteer, you are invited to join us as we bring this opportunity to those who need a visitor. If you would like any further information, to request a visitor, or know of someone who would benefit from this service, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with Brooke at Neighbourhood Central on phone: 1300 810 771 or email: admin@ncentral.org.au

Denise Thurston, Irene Ford and Marie Langfield showing their prize winning entries in flower of the month.

Forbes Garden Club met on 25th June at the Men’s Shed for their monthly meeting whereby President Margaret welcomed 32 members.

The guest speakers on the day were Da­vid and Kate from Forbes Shire Council, who provided a great coverage in relation to the aspect of gardening, tree planting etc within the Shire. During the meeting there was discussion about the possibility of a day trip later in the year, with the Com­mittee to meet before the next meeting to share ideas.

Elvy congratulated Denise Thurston on being the proud mother of a World Cham­pion, with her daughter Haylee recently re­turning from a competition in Poland as the WKSF Kettlebell Sport World Champion.

The Friendship Luncheon is to be held at Young on 13th October at a cost of $60 per person, which includes lunch and an inspection of Clifton Gardens.

The raffle was won by Jan Stewart and second place went to Loris Molloy.

Flower of the month by popular vote of members was won by Denise Thurston with an Abraham Darby rose, second to Irene Ford with a beautiful yellow succulent and third to Marie Langfield with a Red Hot Poker. Please don’t forget that your contri­bution to flower of the month is an asset to the meeting. Please bring along one stem of a flower for entry into flower of the month, with your name and the name of the flower underneath the container.

The next meeting will be at the Men’s Shed on Tuesday 23rd July at 2pm. Please arrive by 1.45pm so you can secure a seat before the meeting starts. Please bring a mug for a shared afternoon tea.

By Elvy Quirk

Pictured from left to right are Gloria Jarrick and Bonita Gwyn and Margaret Wheeler

Neighbourhood Central’s Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme is bringing members of the community together and they are looking for more Volunteer Visitors.

This program is funded by the federal government as part of its Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme, which provides friendship and companionship to eligible older people by matching them with a volunteer visitor who will visit regularly and become a friend. This scheme helps to improve their quality of life by reducing social isolation.

At Neighbourhood Central, Bonita Gwyn and Gloria Jarrick have been volunteer visitors for quite some time now and have formed a beautiful friendship with Margaret Wheeler. The ladies meet every week for a catch up and a few games of cards. Margaret looks forward to her visits with Bonita and Gloria and has expressed how much she enjoys their company and having someone to play cards with.

Bonita and Gloria expressed that the visits with Margaret does as much good for them as it does for Margaret.

Brooke from Neighbourhood Central said, “As an aged care volunteer visitor coordinator, it is wonderful to sit and have a conversation with matches that have been made and witness in person the beautiful friendships that have formed and continue to grow with each visit.”

Being an Aged Care Volunteer Visitor can be incredibly rewarding; by having meaningful conversations, you can drastically improve the quality of life for an older person.

Volunteers from all social and cultural backgrounds from Forbes, Parkes and Condobolin are encouraged to join the program. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer visitor, please contact Brooke at Neighbourhood Central.

If you would like to brighten the days of older people as a volunteer, or if you would

like to request a visitor, please contact Brooke at Neighbourhood Central on 1300 810 771 or email: admin@ncentral.org.au

Relationships Australia NSW (RANSW) has called for urgent intervention from the NSW Government to address men’s violence against women following the horrific murder of Forbes woman Molly Ticehurst.

RANSW CEO Elisabeth Shaw said it is critically important that domestic violence services are adequately and sustainably funded to address the growing rate of violence against women.

“My heart breaks to hear the news of yet another victim of alleged domestic violence,” Ms Shaw said.

“Our country is facing a systemic issue of men’s violence against women, and we need urgent intervention to address this issue at the core.

“We know that Men’s Behaviour Change Programs (MBCPs) can be an effective intervention to help men stop using violence in their relationships – but these programs are chronically underfunded.

“Our organisation currently has 235 men on a waitlist for our Men’s Behaviour Change Programs – these are men who want to stop using violence, but cannot access the help they need.

“We would not say that a behaviour change program would have saved Molly’s life. Some men would never put themselves forward to look at their own actions. However, for those that do, we have to seize that moment and move in fast.

“The NSW Labor Party committed to longer-term funding for the social services sector during the election, and has a strong commitment to addressing domestic violence – now is the time the Government makes good on its promise and delivers fulsome, generous funding for domestic violence services.

“We cannot keep lurching from one crisis to another. It’s time for action.”

To access more information on RANSW’s MBCPs you can visit www.relationshipsnsw.org.au

Communities across regional, rural, and remote Australia can now have their say on telecommunications issues as public submissions open on the Regional Telecommunications Review.

The input of local communities will form an essential part of the Review – held once every three years – which will see the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee deliver recommendations to Government.

The Review is closely examining the experiences of people in regional, rural, and remote parts of Australia with telecommunications delivery, as well as considering the unique needs of First Nations communities.

Residents, businesses and community organisations can make a submission, with the Terms of Reference – announced by Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP – outlining key issues for the Committee to examine. An issues paper has been released to help frame ideas.

Feedback from the public has been essential in previous reviews to ensure the Committee’s recommendations are well-targeted and based on evidence. For this Review there are three options available to have your say: attending a face-to-face consultation, providing a formal submission or completing a survey. The survey will be published in May 2024.

Since March 2024, the Committee has visited Western Australia and Tasmania for face-to-face consultations with local issues also forming an important part of the Committee’s considerations. More locations for face-to-face consultations will be announced shortly.

The 2024 Review is being led by the Hon Alannah MacTiernan, former Western Australian Minister for Regional Development as Chair of the Review Committee. She is supported by the Hon Fiona Nash, Ms Kristy Sparrow, Dr Jessa Rogers and Mr Ian Kelly.

To have your say just visit www.infrastructure.gov.au/have-your-say/2024- regional-telecommunications-review

Chair, the Hon Alannah MacTiernan went on to say “Access to telecommunications services is critical for regional residents and businesses across so many aspects of everyday life – and we want to understand the lived experience of these services so that future policy actions are well-targeted and backed up by evidence.

“We really encourage Australians in the bush to have their say via a submission or completing the survey in coming months, while we continue our face-to-face consultations across the country.