The Christmas spirit of giving brought a lot of joy to the volunteers at Georgie’s Pantry this week with a big donation of food from the Christian School. Bill Dudley, who has volunteered at the shop for the past four years, was very grateful for the donation that boosted the shop’s supplies tremendously.

The shop was started by St George’s Anglican Church, and opens every Thursday for Parkes residents on pension and health care cards. “We have up to 30 people coming in every week,” said Bill. “They are able to fill up a big basket of groceries for $25 and also buy a meat tray at cost price.”

The money earned is used to buy new stock for the shop. According to Bill the project would not have been viable without the donations from Aldi and Woolworths of fresh produce, the meat trays Buttabeef Butchery provides at cost price and occasional donations from the public. Bill also buys stock from the Foodbank in Sydney.

“We made 70 Christmas hampers for distribution to needy families this year,” said Bill. His dream is to one day get a caravan to provide a free meal every night to those in need. “But we first need a lot more volunteers,” was his Christmas wish.

Georgie’s Pantry at 45 Currajong Street is open every Thursday from 10am to 4pm. The last day this year will be Thursday, 21st December and reopens the first Thursday after the Elvis Festival.

The route for the Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) in Parkes on Monday, 29th January next year has been announced and the community is invited to join the celebrations in the run-up to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

“There are a number of fantastic vantage points along the route to cheer on the local legends carrying the baton,” said Parkes Shire General Manager, Kent Boyd. One of the 19 Parkes baton bearers Amanda Draper said her selection came as a big surprise as a colleague had nominated her. “I am very excited to be taking part.”

Parkes is one of only eight overnight stops in NSW along the baton’s 100-day journey. The relay will start at 4:30pm at Memorial Hill, making its way through the CBD to finish with a splash at the Parkes Aquatic Centre with community celebrations from 5:30pm.

The Parkes Aquatic Centre will host a family-friendly Pool Party, with free entry from 4pm to 7pm, outdoor games and live acoustic entertainment. The pool kiosk will have cold drinks and icy poles, with Rotary and Quota serving up a barbeque.

The Queens Baton Relay will resume at 7.45am on Tuesday, 30th January, making its way to Orange. Follow the QBR at www.gc2018.com/qbr or visitparkes.nsw.gov.au #QBR2018 #GC2018 #SHARETHEDREAM

There is an old saying amongst physios that says: ‘The best exercise is the one that gets done.’ A recent study published in the September issue of the New England Journal of Medicine has put this theory to the test. The authors studied the effect early versus delayed exercise, after an acute muscle strain, has on recovery time for recreational athletes.

Most people by now are aware that early mobilisation/walking within pain limits, after an ankle sprain reduces disability and recovery time. But is this also true for muscle tears? This study took 50 recreational athletes with an acute injury of the thigh or calf muscles. Participants were divided into two groups. Each group performed the same four-stage exercise programme over a 12-week period. One group started this programme two days after injury and the second group started nine days post injury.

The exercise programme consisted initially of stretches then progressive isometric and dynamic loading followed by functional exercises combined with heavy strength training. The primary outcome measure was return to full asymptomatic participation in sport after successful completion of a functional screening test.

The interval between severe muscle injury and return to sport was shorter in the early exercise group than in the delayed exercise group. The authors concluded that starting rehabilitation two days after injury rather than waiting for nine days shortened the time from injury to pain-free return to sport by three weeks without any significant increase in the risk of re-injury.

The take home message: Get to your sports physio early after a muscle injury in order to minimise recovery time.

For the fitness of you,
Linda Reilly

Sentencing Options – Part 2

The second part of the series explaining the range of penalties available to Magistrates. Dismissal and conditional discharge under Section 10. Section 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 gives the court the discretion
to find a person guilty of an offence, but discharge that person a conviction. This means the defendant will not have a criminal record. The court will take into account the person’s character, antecedents, age, health and mental condition, the trivial nature of the offence and any other extenuating circumstances when determining whether to grant an outright dismissal.

Intensive Correction Orders (ICOs) ICOs are an alternative to a sentence of imprisonment and can be made when a court is satisfied that no sentence other than fulltime imprisonment is appropriate for an offender, and that the sentence is likely to be for two years or less. Instead of full-time custody, offenders are managed in the community
by the Community Corrections division of Corrective Services NSW. The two major components of ICOs are:
• supervision by a Community Corrections Officer who monitors the offender’s behaviour and address rehabilitative needs;

and
• community service work of 32 hours of unpaid work in the community each month.

Full-time Imprisonment /Home Detention. Full-time imprisonment should always be  the sentence of last resort for courts, with the maximum available term of imprisonment of two years. Home detention may also be an option.
If you have questions on the Marriage Law or anything else, please contact any of our Solicitors at Matthews Williams.

Flash floods appeared all over Parkes on Saturday when the town was inundated in the morning. Clarinda street in the CBD turned in to a raging torrent even taking dust bins with it, and several businesses had to be sandbagged with employees stuck inside.

The Bureau of Meteorology reported that 55.2mm were recorded at the airport on Saturday and a further 43mm on Sunday. Only two weeks earlier, the wettest day this year so far was recorded on 17th November when 55.6mm fell, although many people measured about 100mm with that deluge.

The Parkes Chapter of The Compassionate Friends (TCF) invites any parent, grandparent, brother or sister to share the memories of a deceased child with others who really know how they will be feeling at its annual candle lighting at 5.30pm on Sunday at Lions Park.

The event is held worldwide every year on the second Sunday of December in every time zone to remember the children, grandchildren, brother or sister or friend who have died and will be missing from the family Christmas celebrations. As candles burn down in one time zone they are lit in another, creating a 24 hour wave of remembering light that encircles the globe.

The candles will be supplied or bring your own. There will also be room for a photo of your deceased loved one on the wooden Christmas tree. Mary McPhee started the Parkes chapter of TCF just over 15 years ago and is remembered as the founder with a plaque at Lions Park.

The Australian Compassionate Friends was started 10 years after the establishment of TCF in the United Kingdom by five parents of children who had died. They were brought into contact with each other to share their grief by a young cleric Rev Simon Stephens. One of the founding parents, Joe Lawley wrote “The Gift” to tell the story of The Compassionate Friends.

The evening will begin with the reading of special poems and then everyone is invited to light a candle. Bring a rug or chairs, drinks and nibbles and stay on following the candle lighting. In case of inclement weather, the venue will be the Middleton School Hall.

Staff and clients of Currajong Disability Services (CDS) recently participated in International Day for People with Disability (IDPwD) at the Forbes Olympic pool with a who’s who of disability service providers from around the district, their staff, clients and families.

The event, run by Forbes Shire Council, included a barbeque, games and a variety of other fun activities that kept everyone entertained. “It is important we recognise people with disabilities not just on days like today but that we support, encourage and celebrate them every day,” said CDS Marketing and Communications rep Dane Millerd.

IDPwD is a United Nations sanctioned day that is celebrated internationally. It aims to increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability and celebrate the achievements and contributions of people with disability.

The Australian Government has been supporting IDPwD since 1996 and provides funds to promote and raise awareness of the day around Australia.

GAME ON SUMMER READING CLUB
Super charge your summer and register today at any Parkes Shire Library for the Game On Summer Reading Club. It is open to all from birth to 17 years and is free to join. The GOAL is to read over 974 books from 1st December until 31st January 2018. Why 974? It is the most runs scored in a cricket test series achieved by Don Bradman in 1930. If the reading goal is reached it will trigger a Game On award ceremony where members for each completed reading record (10 books) will get to throw a wet sponge at a library staff member. Yes – a wet sponge! Read 30 books and you will get three sponges to throw!

GIFT A BOOK
The community is invited to gift a book under the Libraries Christmas Trees until Friday, 22nd December. The books will go to 200 schools in remote areas of northern Australia as part of the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation “Books and Library Project”.
1. Purchase a book for a child between birth and 12 years.
2. Wrap the book in Christmas paper.
3. Put a tag on with the child’s age the book is suitable for.
4. Bring it into your library and put it under the Christmas tree.

ART OF AGEING EXHIBITION
Parkes Library, 5 to 21 December Our community is changing. We are getting older. We are living longer. By 2031, one in three people in NSW will be 50 or older. But older people aren’t all the same, they live diverse lives. How they experience ageing,  and how they want to age is unique. The NSW Department of Family and Community Services have been documenting the lives of older people. The photos and stories captured make up the Art of Ageing exhibition on at Parkes Library from 5 to 21 December. Join the Library team for morning tea to celebrate our older people community on Tuesday, 12th December at 10am.