Hi Landcarer’s

It has been my pleasure to work with the two Drought Response Coordinators that have been employed by Forbes and Parkes Shire Councils.

They are both employed under different funding arrangements, but with a core of their role dedicated to acting as points of liaison to assist our local efforts to respond to the drought. Many of you may have met Sally Downie at Forbes and Roger Kitson at Parkes, both engaged in February of this year.

Roger has been engaged under the Federal Government’s Drought Communities Program with the role created to implement the NSW Drought Strategy, and coordinate the distribution of information regarding services and initiatives that can assist our communities, particularly landholders, in the drought and beyond.

I was fortunate to be part of the Pub Chat at Tullamore last week, where the focus was on supporting each other through drought, biosecurity and just facing the basic practicalities of day to day life, particularly in an isolated rural town.

This workshop was part of a series that is being undertaken in smaller centres in the Shire, with another workshop coming up at Trundle on Thursday, 25 July from 4pm. For further information, you can contact Roger at Parkes Neighbourhood Central on 02 6862 3757 or email dro@ncentral.org.au

Click here for a copy of the flier.

Sally’s role is directly funded by Forbes Shire Council. Many of you would be familiar with Sally, growing up on a local family dairy and being the Forbes 2018 Showgirl. I have enjoyed getting to know Sally and am looking forward to being involved with her in future activities in the Forbes Shire.

Sally is overseeing the organisation of the 2^nd Lachlan Support Network Meeting to be held at the Forbes Services Memorial Club on Tuesday, 16 July between 10am and 12pm. Forbes Shire Council and The Rural Mental Health Adversity Program extend an invitation to all local support services to attend. This meeting is to bring service providers together to ensure that there is no duplication of services or holes in the network.

As we enter a new financial year but continue to battle unrelenting drought it is vital to reconnect and identify areas of concern and goals to work towards.

To RSVP or find our more information from Sally, she can be contacted on 6850 2300 or sally.downie@forbes.nsw.gov.au

For more information, go to our website at centralwestlachlanlandcare.org, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @cwllandcare.

Until next week, happy Landcaring.