Roxane Manley

At the heart of every Meals on Wheels ser­vice is a simple but powerful mission: to support the wellbeing, independence, and connection of older people in our commu­nity. In Parkes and Forbes, this mission has been carried out with dedication and care for decades — and today, we’re proud to share a new chapter in that story.

Meals on Wheels Parkes and Meals on Wheels Forbes are coming together to strengthen the future of local meal delivery and community support. This collaboration between two like-minded services, work­ing together to ensure that our communities continue to receive the care they deserve, now and into the future.

While some changes will take place be­hind the scenes, our clients and volunteers can rest assured:

• The services you know and trust are staying the same.

• Clients will continue to receive the same friendly service, with the same caring vol­unteers.

• There will be no changes to volunteer roles or support.

• Both Parkes and Forbes offices will re­main open and active.

• A combined staff and administration team will now work across both locations.

• Most excitingly, we’ll be able to offer some additional services to meet the growing needs of our communities.

This new structure allows us to pool our resources, share our strengths, and work more efficiently, all while keeping our focus firmly on the people we serve. By coming together, we’re future-proofing Meals on Wheels for both towns, ensuring that our support for older residents remain strong, responsive, and local.

We are deeply grateful to our volunteers, staff, and supporters who make this work possible every day. Together, we are build­ing a stronger, more connected future for Meals on Wheels in Parkes and Forbes.

Wednesday 27 August was National Meals on Wheels Day, a day to celebrate the local volunteers, customers and community members who make it all possible. Under this year’s theme, “Aged Care You Can Count On”, Meals on Wheels is proudly reaffirming its promise to be a trusted, reliable presence in the lives of older Australians.

“For more than 70 years, Meals on Wheels has delivered more than just meals. We bring nourishment, safety and a friendly face to some of the most vulnerable people in our community, and we do it with heart.”

The NSW Government announced $400,000 to support grass roots projects that make a lasting positive impact in our multicultural state.

Through Multicultural NSW’s Stronger Together Project Grants program, local or­ganisations can apply for grants between $20,000 and $50,000 for projects that fos­ter community harmony and build capabil­ity in culturally diverse communities.

The Government is seeking applications from community-led projects that: assist with overcoming language barriers, deliver programs or services to multicultural com­munities, build capability and resources for diverse communities, strengthen resilience through network building, assist people who have recently arrived in NSW, build intercultural and interfaith networks.

Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper said “This program empowers lo­cal groups to create meaningful change in their communities, so people from different cultures and faiths can thrive.

“If you’ve got a project that will make a positive impact for people from culturally diverse backgrounds, get your application in now.”

Funding is for projects that will be rolled out from 1 January to 31 December 2026.

Applications are now open and will close at 5pm on Monday 15 September.

Visit https://multicultural.nsw.gov.au/project-grants/ for info or to apply.

The recent “Be Road Ready for Harvest Field Day” held at the Forbes Central WestLivestock Exchange was a massive success with a record-breaking 90 people attending.

Attendees were a mixture of farmers, con­tract harvesters, transport companies, ag­ricultural machinery retailers, grain receival sites, government agencies, council staff and relevant associations.

The event was supported by the Nation­al Heavy Vehicle Regulator, Transport for NSW, the Grain Transport Safety Network, NSW Police, NSW Rural Fire Service, Pa­cific National, Essential Energy, local agri­cultural machinery retailers, NSW Farmers and the Australian Custom Harvesters As­sociation.

Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Coun­cils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Of­ficer, Melanie Suitor, said anecdotal feed­back from attendees on the day was very positive.

“Rules and regulations do change and events like this are important to ensure peo­ple are up to date on what’s required before the upcoming harvest period.

“Thank you to Forbes Machinery Cen­tre, Hutcheon and Pearce, O’Connors, Bob Wythes, Luke Magill, Greg Dunn and Rich­ard Nixon who were very generous in loan­ing us the equipment for the displays.”

If you missed out on attending the field day, a free satellite event covering the same content will be held in Tullibigeal, Jemalong and Alectown in the coming weeks (with din­ner/breakfast provided). Details are as fol­lows: Monday 25 August from 3pm – 6pm at the Tullibigeal Community Hall, Tuesday 26 August from 7.30am – 10.30am at the Je­malong RFS Shed, Wednesday 27 August from 7.30am – 10.30am at the Alectown Memorial Hall.

Registration is free but spaces are limited, so you need to get in quick. Register via the Parkes, Forbes or Lachlan Shire Councils’ Facebook pages or this link: https://forms.office.com/r/MmMPU3D2Y1

Following much lead-up work and consulta­tion with numerous volunteer organisations in Forbes, along with fellow CWA Branches in the Oxley CWA area, the Forbes Evening Branch of CWA hosted a first aid information afternoon on Saturday 26 July.

Mr Tod Healey from Tod Healey First Aid training presented an overview of key first aid topics to the gathered participants. The topics were focused on those that people may encounter in everyday life; asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetic care (hypo and hy­per events), CPR, the differences between bandaging for injury, bleeding and snake bites.

Practical demonstration and practice by participants was encouraged to understand the use of a spacer for administration of asthma medication, how to use an EpiPen, and the application of bandages for varying reasons.

The emphasis of the presentation was to show, demonstrate and participants to prac­tice using the AED (Automated External Defibrillator) machines that are available in both Forbes and Parkes.

Participants were shown the AED’s that exist in both towns, encouraging everyone to observe where they are located in their town along with our neighbouring town of Parkes, due to the number of Forbes resi­dents that travel to Parkes for various rea­sons.

It was stressed that the access to Forbes and Parkes AED’s is different. Forbes AED’s are accessed by keying in the Forbes post­code 2871, where in Parkes the AED is opened by lifting the cover lid.

At the completion of Tod’s presentation participants were invited to the prepared af­ternoon tea by the members of the Forbes Evening Branch members.

Much chatter was entered into over the cuppa session about the importance of Tod’s presentation. Women of all ages are welcome to come along to the Forbes CWA Evening Branch meetings, held at 6.30pm on the second Thursday of the month.