Special Interests Archives - Page 44 of 121

Stay On The Safe Side: Choose The Right Vehicle For The Job

July 20, 2023 by Roxane Manley

By making informed decisions about equipment and vehicles prior to beginning a task, we can create safer working environments in the agricultural industry.

According to the 2023 Safer Farms Report, 64% of fatalities on Australian farms in 2022 were attributed to farm vehicles or mobile farm machinery. Since 2001, nearly 30% of all on farm fatalities can be attributed to two vehicles: tractors and quad bikes.

Farmers rely on different vehicles for a wide range of tasks, each task demands a specific vehicle with the necessary features and capabilities. Choosing the right vehicle significantly reduces the risk of injuries and fatalities. To select the right vehicle:

Assess Job Requirements: Begin by assessing the specific needs and requirements of the task and consider factors such as load capacity, terrain conditions, and manoeuvrability. Matching the vehicle’s capabilities to the job requirements is crucial for optimal safety.

Consider Operator Comfort and Familiarity: A comfortable and familiar vehicle promotes operator confidence and reduces the likelihood of incidents. Ensure that all operators, including contractors, receive appropriate information and training to handle the chosen vehicle safely and efficiently.

Evaluate Safety Features: Prioritise purchasing vehicles equipped with safety features designed to protect operators. Features such as seat belts, roll bars, and enclosed cabs offer crucial protection in the event of a rollover. Don’t compromise on safety and never circumvent safety mechanisms when selecting vehicles.

Maintain and Inspect Regularly: Establish a regular maintenance and inspection schedule. Routine checks of brakes, lights, tyres, and other essential mechanisms ensure that the vehicle remains in prime working condition. Promptly address any repair needs to prevent potential hazards.

Promote Communication and Training: Encourage open communication among farm workers to share insights and experiences related to vehicle safety. Check operators have the necessary licences. Provide comprehensive training to all operators, emphasising safe operating procedures, load limits, and any specific considerations related to the chosen vehicles such as speed limits, age limits and required personal protective equipment (PPE).

Registrations Open For 30th Annual Rural Women’s Gathering

July 20, 2023 by Roxane Manley

Women from across rural, regional and remote NSW can register now to hear from and connect with an inspirational athlete, journalist and agricultural business woman at the 30th annual Rural Women’s Gathering held from 25th – 27th August.

The theme of the 2023 Gathering is “30 years, still going strong and getting stronger” and will see women convene in Orange, three decades after the city hosted the first Gathering in 1993.

Keynote speakers include Australian Rugby Union Player Grace Hamilton and ABC News rural reporter Sarah Hawke, who both hail from Orange. Joining them is Founder of Ability Agriculture and 2022 NSW ACT AgriFutures Rural Womens Award Winner, Josie Clarke.

“The Gathering brings women together to share experiences, learn and support one another. It is an important event to help regional women feel connected to each other, through friendship, mentorship and professional resources and services.”

The Gathering also provides a valuable opportunity for women to share their insights and ideas for their communities with key decision makers in the NSW Government.

The event is hosted by Australian National Field Days and organised by a committee of volunteers, with support from the NSW Government’s Rural Women’s Network. Register at: https://nswwomensgathering.com.au/

The New Parkes Elvis Festival Team Are Out Of This World!

July 20, 2023 by Roxane Manley

Pictured left to right is Events and Festival’s Specialist, Rochelle, Festival Producer Julian and Event Sponsorship and Attraction Officer Charlotte. Missing from the photo is the Brand and Marketing Coordinator, Bec.

There will be no more “Suspicious Minds”, as the new Parkes Elvis Festival Team have been announced and they “Can’t Help Falling In Love” with Parkes.

Festival Director Julien Poluson was joined this week in Parkes by colleagues Rochelle Livingstone, Festivals and Events Manager and Charlotte Lepriere, Sponsorship and Marketing to discuss everything Elvis. Julian will be residing in Parkes, whilst Rochelle and Charlotte will be working remotely and returning to Parkes as needed.

Julian’s background is in arts, music production and public arts events. His career started at the Hobart Mercury Newspaper, in the 90’s he worked in the Australian Music Industry, before moving to East Timor and then Cambodia where he went working for three months and stayed for 12 years.

Julian went on to say that as a team they are all “Very much part of a transition, an evolution of the festival. It’s gone from being a conversation around a bar in a hotel, to a community committee run festival, to a semi council run, to now fully run within the corporate framework, and the framework is good, it secures it and means the investment of everyone’s time, sponsorship money, talent, patience and enthusiasm, it all pays off over the long term and way into the future”.

The team are busy collaborating with each other and Julian said they are excited to bring “More colour, more diversity, more youth, more culture, the Wall of Fame story, developing Theatre.”

Sounds Of Country On Lake Forbes At Sundown

July 13, 2023 by Roxane Manley

Rising stars of Australian country music, and the new backing band for Lee Kernaghan, Hurricane Fall will headline Sundown Sounds.

Rising stars of Austraslian country music, Hurricane Fall will be the headlining act at Forbes’ inaugural Sundown Sounds on Lake Forbes. The event will take place at Lions Park on 5th August, with music starting at 5:45pm.

This high energy country rock band will be joined by Katie Jayne and band, and our very own Gracey Denham-Jones.

Forbes Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM said the inaugural Sundown Sounds event is a definite nod to our country roots.

“I am looking forward to pulling on the boots for an evening of good food, good music and great times with old and new friends” Mayor Miller said.

You can check out Council’s Facebook event to listen to the Sundown Sounds Spotify Playlist. Sundown Sounds is a free event funded by the NSW Government.

“Grab your mates, grab your esky and join us by the lake for what is sure to be an epic evening of live music.”

Sundown Sounds is a BYO event. Food vans and a bucking mechanical bull will be available. All ages are welcome.

Tickets are free, but essential and are available to online at www.123tix.com.au/events/37984/forbes-sundown-sounds

Putting The Heart In Your Business

July 13, 2023 by Roxane Manley

Actor Samuel Johnson with his sister Connie, who lost her battle with cancer.

The Forbes Business Chamber will be hosting special guest, actor Samuel Johnson, for breakfast on the 20th July at Club Forbes.

Samuel Johnson has long been advocating for Precision Medicine as a standard of care for all Australian cancer patients. Access to clinical trials and the latest technologies is currently not available outside major population centres. Love Your Sister has initiated a multi-partner, multi-million-dollar expansion to correct the inequity.

Love Your Sister has partnered with Macquarie University, and selected the Dubbo region to be the first trial.

Love Your Sister has committed $1.2M to a world-first, co-designed sustainable model for clinical trials that draws on local resources and expertise as well as those of the government, university and pharmaceutical sectors.

Most importantly, the patient wins. This impactful initiative will help patients stay close to home and their support networks rather than being required to travel long distances to receive the latest treatments.

Love Your Sister has already funded half and is relying on businesses and community leaders from Dubbo and other communities to help meet our commitment.

“This world-first model only works if everyone gets on board, including individuals, local community groups and businesses, not only from Dubbo but the surrounding towns as well,” said Samuel Johnson.

All eyes will be on Dubbo and surrounds as Love Your Sister, the Oncology Department at Dubbo Hospital, the Western NSW Clinical Trial Support Unit, NSW Health and Macquarie University initiate a model for bringing international standard clinical trials to regional, rural and remote locations.

Chamber members are entitled to one free ticket, please email the chamber to register your business delgate. Additional tickets are available at www.123tix.com.au/events/39534/putting-the-heart-in-your-business-breakfast-with-samuel-johnson

Bad Medicine For Regional Australia

July 13, 2023 by Roxane Manley

Sixty-day dispensing may sound good, but if you dig a little deeper, it is rural and regional Australia that will pay, writes Trent Twomey of the Pharmacy Guild.

“I fear patients won’t realise the true impact of 60-day dispensing until the pharmacy they’ve got, is gone. And by then it will be too late,” said Trent.

An independent report published recently by respected economist Henry Ergas AO, along with Tulipwood Advisory and the Relational Insights Data Lab at Griffith University has revealed the policy will lead to the loss of 20,818 community pharmacy jobs and the closure of 665 pharmacies nationwide.

Soon regional patients will feel the effect with cuts to free services such as blood pressure monitoring, diabetes management, websters packs for the aged and home delivery of medicines.

These are all services which the current dispensing arrangement helps pay for and keeps your local pharmacy‘s doors open for longer.

Unless the government delays the implementation of 60-day dispensing, as has been recommended, you will be seeing more of these cuts and closures from September when the policy is in place.

Empowering People Living With Diabetes To Control Their Health

July 13, 2023 by Roxane Manley

National Diabetes Week, 9th – 15th July, provides an opportunity to highlight the importance of effective diabetes management. In support of National Diabetes Week, the Australian Digital Health Agency has created an engaging video.

HbA1c tests play a vital role in diabetes diagnosis and managemen. Unlike traditional diabetes tests that only offer a snapshot of glucose levels, HbA1c tests provide a more comprehensive view, enabling better treatment decisions and disease monitoring.These results are now immediately available as soon as uploaded. Previously there was a seven-day waiting period.

The newly launched video showcases the real-life story of Steve Renouf and his family. Steve, a Rugby League legend and proud Gunggari and Gubbi Gubbi man, is a passionate advocate for diabetes management. Watch the video and learn more about the benefits of immediate access to HbA1c test results.

In addition to diabetes test results (HbA1c), pathology reports for blood clot monitoring (INR test), COVID-19 tests, and respiratory infection tests are also available as soon as they are uploaded. To view service providers uploading to My Health Record visit: www.digitalhealth.gov.au

This Is One Production Not To Be Missed

July 13, 2023 by Roxane Manley

Cast and crew are excited for the opening night, Saturday the 15th. Get your tickets and come along and support local theatre.

Not Now Darling is a British farcical comedy featuring minks, mistresses, mobsters and mistaken identities, including scantily clad women hiding in cupboards! This production is the directorial debut for Parkes M&D member Hannah Symonds, who has over 20 years of theatrical experience and graced the Parkes M&D stage as Elphaba in the 2021 production of Wicked.

Not Now Darling follows the flamboyant Gilbert Bodley (Aaron Kingham) as he schemes to seduce the beautiful stripper Janie McMichael (Lisa Ramsay) by offering her an exquisite £5,000 mink coat.

Unfortunately, Janie’s husband, Harry McMichael (Benson O’Donnell), mustn’t know about the affair so the coat is offered to Harry at an excellent price of £500, with Gilbert paying the remainder.

Harry realises the bargain and instead buys the coat for his curvaceous secretary Sue Lawson (Hannah Symonds). Gilbert is shocked by this turn in events and both he and his nervous assistant Arnold Crouch (Russell Tanswell) are further embarrassed when Janie refuses to leave the salon by stripping down. Their frenzied attempts to retrieve the coat from Sue and hide the naked Janie are further complicated by the unexpected arrival of Gilbert’s wife Maude Bodley (Lyn Townsend).

Meanwhile, Arnold’s method of hiding any discarded ladies underwear is to throw them out the window, leaving the salon’s spinster secretary Miss Tipdale (Jessica Morgan) to retrieve the garments and any other items tossed from the window. The hilarious events at the salon are interrupted by the elderly couple Mr. and Mrs. Frencham (Steve McGrath and Ruth Barnes) as they navigate the law, as well as the beautiful fur model Miss Whittington (Gyhaan Edwards).

Opening 15th July to the 30 th July 2023. A group ticket discount of buy five get one free will apply. Head to the website for more details. www.parkesmandd.com.au

It’s The Little Things That Make A Big Difference

July 6, 2023 by Roxane Manley

Grant Acheson from Kitson solutions is pictured with Aruma Disability clients after the installation of the new guardrail.

As a free communtiy newspaper, the team at The Forbes & Parkes Phoenix, love nothing more that bringing our readers good-news stories about locals doing their bit to make our community a better place to live.

Every weekday from 9:30am – 3:30pm, Aruma Disability Servivces in Forbes run a local day program assisting a range of disability supported customers to reach their short and long term goals. These goals may include cooking skills, community access, dancing, money, and budgeting skills, food preparation, cleaning, shopping, fishing, gardening and sensory skills.

The outdoor area at the centre is used for most of these activities and provides an alternate space for all-purpose needs as the indoor activities often get very noisy and crowded.

Amy Mongan from Aruma Disability Services identified the need for a permanent guardrail to be installed around the outdoor space to make the area safer for customers and clients.

She reached out to Kitson Solutions to see if they would be willing to donate any time or materials to assist in the completion of this project.

“I explained that our outdoor area is very unsafe due to the lack of railing around the concrete slab, which poses a fall risk to both staff and customers,” said Amy.

Grant Acheson of Kitson Solutions didn’t hesitate to offer their assistace in any way needed to get the job done. After generously donating their free time and materials, the guard rails were completed.

“Our outdoor area looks amazing andcustomers and staff could not be happier. We are now able to use this space as required on a regular basis safely. Thank you Kitson Solutions,” said Amy.

Colour Wheel Art Exhibition

July 6, 2023 by Roxane Manley

An original Karen Ritchie artwork will be raffled off, raising funds for FAS. Raffle tickets are $2 each and can be purchased at the door throughout the weekend.

From bright and bold tones to moody and muted hues, colour is key in the latest art exhibition by the Forbes Arts Society (FAS).

The Colour Wheel exhibition will showcase a collection of mixed media work by Forbes Arts Society members that celebrates the history of colour and explores colour psychology.

“Like art, colour is undeniably emotive. This exhibition will highlight how different colours can evoke different emotional and behavioural responses,” said Dr Karen Ritchie, Forbes Arts Society.

“We are delighted to exhibit such a diverse offering of local artwork that will uplift, inspire, surprise and comfort, as well as stimulate a range of other thoughts and feelings,” Karen added.

An exhibition opening will be held on Friday 7th July, from 6pm until 8pm at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 11 Harold Street in Forbes. Tickets are $10 for Forbes Arts Society members and $20 for non-members and can be pre-purchased through the Forbes Arts Society website or at the door.

The exhibition will then be on public display St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th July, from 10am until 2pm both days.

For more information about the Colour Wheel exhibition and to purchase tickets to the exhibition opening, head to www.forbesartssociety.com or follow the Forbes Arts Society on Facebook and Instagram. This exhibition is supported by ArtsWeb volunteers, a committee of the Forbes Arts Society.

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