Parkes Phoenix

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IMAGE: Hosted by Forbes Rugby Union Club.

Forbes Rugby Union Club 

Forbes Rugby Union Club welcomes applications for coaches and managers for the 2024 season. Positions we are looking to fill include head coach, assistant coach and manager for 1st grade, 2nd grade, women’s and colts. 

Details for the application form are available on the Forbes Rugby Facebook and Instagram pages. For more information please contact secretary@forbesrugbyclub.com.au or President Sam Parish on 0418 832 086. Applications close at 5pm on Friday 17th November. 

Parkes Shire Council 

Join us on Saturday 18 November at 10am in the Parkes Shire Library courtyard for an event called Crop Swap Parkes! 

What is a ‘Crop Swap’? 

Crop swapping is the cashless exchange of homegrown and homemade produce at community markets. Attendees usually arrive with produce they have too much of and trade it with others so that they leave with a basket of delicious, free produce. These events aim to reduce food waste while promoting goodwill, generosity and community connection! We hope to see you there! 

R U OK? Day 

Don’t give them opinions or try to fix things. 

Instead, listen and let them know you care and are there to support them. 

A simple yet important message to take into the weekend. 

Steve Magill Earthmoving Pty Ltd 

Out with the old, in with the new! 

We have been busy working on redesigning our website, and it is now ready to launch. 

Follow the link to check out what we’ve been up to – https://www.stevemagillearthmoving.com.au/ 

NSW Government 

Know someone itching to start a new career? 

There’s now an even greater reason to join the NSW Police Force as new recruits will be paid $30,000 to study at the Police Academy over 16 weeks. Upon graduating, students will be employed as probationary constables and earn an annual salary of about $80,000 plus allowances! 

With a shortfall of police numbers, this new incentive is being introduced to attract more recruits to help build a stronger police force for our communities. 

Enrolment details are here bit.ly/NSWPFRecruitment 

Central West Credit Union 

October Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Lolly Jar Guessing Competition Winners Announced. 

October, dedicated to breast cancer awareness, has ended, and we’re thrilled to wrap it up by revealing the winners of our Lolly Jar Guessing Competition. A big thank you to everyone who joined – your support makes a difference. 

Parkes Winner: Congratulations to Gill Kinsela for an impressive guess! 

Forbes Winner: Well done to Sandra for a spot-on prediction! 

Your participation helped us bring attention to an important cause. We appreciate your involvement and congratulate you on your success. Breast cancer awareness is crucial all year round, not just in October. 

Parkes Elvis Festival 

Ray White Parkes is looking for homes and rooms to lease for the 2024 Parkes Elvis Festival through their Home Hosting Program. 

For more information on how you can be part of this program, call Gail on (02) 6862 1900 or drop into Ray White at 228 Clarinda Street, Parkes. 

IMAGE: Parkes Elvis Festival 2024 Home Hosting Program.

BIG W Giving Tree Returns

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BIG W’s annual Giving Tree has returned to stores, inviting customers to share in the true spirit of Christmas and support families needing a little extra support this year. 

From now until Christmas Eve, customers can place an unwrapped gift under the Giving Tree at their local BIG W, helping to bring joy to families in their local community who need it most. 

BIG W has partnered with Good360 Australia to match all 177 stores with a local charity. This year the Giving Tree will support 106 organisations across Australia, including women’s shelters, youth centres, homeless shelters and children in hospital. 

Good360 Australia has been a charity partner of BIG W since 2017, helping to match surplus goods to local families in need, essential goods to disaster-affected communities, and special gifts to vulnerable people during important celebrations such as Christmas, providing hope. 

In 2022, the Giving Tree initiative saw BIG W customers and staff collect and distribute over 10,000 gifts nationwide. For more information, visit www.bigw.com.au 

Call To Action: ACCC Must Investigate Supermarket Meat Prices

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IMAGE: Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Agriculture Minister David Littleproud pictured at rams sales.

Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Agriculture Minister David Littleproud is calling on Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Agriculture Minister Murray Watt to investigate supermarket meat sale prices. 

Mr Littleproud said Treasurer Chalmers and Minister Watt must urgently direct the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to hold a price inquiry. 

“According to Meat and Livestock Australia, some sheep and lamb categories have fallen by up to 70 per cent in the saleyards in the last 12 months,” Mr Littleproud said. 

“Lamb prices have drastically reduced and cattle prices have fallen by about 60 per cent. Yet families at the supermarkets have barely noticed a difference in prices.” 

While a farmer’s payment for cattle (eastern young cattle indicator) has fallen from $10.21 per kilo to just $3.65 per kilo over the past 12 months, at the supermarket it still costs around $36 per kilo for grass-fed rump steak, $25 per kilo for beef rump roast and $19 for a kilo of grass-fed beef mince. 

A farmer’s payment for lamb (national trade price) has fallen from $8.39 per kilo to $4.82 per kilo, yet families at the supermarket are paying $27 for a kilo of grass-fed graze lamb boneless shoulder roast, $18 for one kilo of lamb loin chops and $8 per kilo of lamb leg roast. 

A competition task force recently established by Labor, to conduct a review of competition policy settings over a two-year period, failed to provide the urgent response that families and farmers required. 

“This is impacting family budgets right now. It needs an urgent response because families and farmers can’t afford to wait potentially two years for answers. 

“Many families are struggling to afford their grocery bill each week so it’s important the government acts swiftly to ensure there’s transparency in meat prices.” 

Distance Does Not Prevent Kindness

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IMAGE: Que President Kath Whitchurch passes on Thuringowa’s generous donation to Forbes Public School’s Vice
Captain Milly Ridley and Principal Meg Staples.

Principal Meg Staples and Vice-Captain Milly Ridley from Forbes Public School were warmly welcomed at Parkes Que as the Thuringowa Quota Club in Queensland had sent, via our club, $2,300 to be used where it would do the greatest good for our regional flood victims. 

Milly gave a powerpoint presentation and talked about what had happened at their school, beginning with a map of Australia, with a dark line drawn, linking Thuringowa with Forbes and expressing that ‘Distance does not prevent kindness.’ 

When the flood first threatened, teachers and pupils raised everything up as high as they could, but 80% of the buildings were filled with water and the school was lost. The situation was so grim that the army arrived to help then cleanout the buildings and salvage anything that was possible. 

Principal Meg then continued “The Principal of Forbes High (not impacted by the flood waters) rang her and suggested that they could set up a temporary school in part of their grounds, and so 31 demountables were placed on site in just 20 days and they had 80 children there the first day and 300 by the end of the week, which included some children from Eugowra. 

Meg told us that “after a year of living on adrenalin, many of the flood victims were now feeling very down, and the donation would be used to hold a free community barbeque where they could all come together to talk, to exchange ideas and stories, to laugh a bit, to enjoy a bit of entertainment, perhaps to pick up some useful things, but mainly to break the isolation and despair many were now feeling as they battled to begin life again”. 

“A school is more than just bricks and mortar” said both Milly and Meg. 

By Pam Nankivell 

Boys to the Bush hold Inaugural Community Engagement Day

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IMAGES: Boys to the Bush Boys Eases High School Transition for Kids by Showcasing Opportunities for Engagement and Activities.

Boys to the Bush (BttB), are a non-profit organisation committed to supporting students in rural areas, and on Thursday November 2nd, Boys to the Bush held their very first Community Engagement Day in Forbes, and it was a great success with seven local schools attending. 

The schools that attended on the day were Forbes High School, Forbes North Public School, St Laurence’s Parish School, Eugowra Public School, Bedgerabong Public School and Condobolin Public School. All students in attendance thoroughly enjoyed themselves. 

Ag’n’Vet were the major sponsor for the event. The sponsorship made it possible to host almost 500 primary and high school kids to participate in cultural, sporting and recreational activities. Our focus on the event was BttB’s core values Community, Respect, Engagement. 

The students enjoyed dancing with our DJ Stevie Bowen, tug’o’ war and boxing for fitness with Parkes PCYC, egg and spoon and agility racing with the ladies from the Forbes Shire Council Events and Youth Team, Cricket NSW, Rugby League with the South West NSW crew, Aboriginal dancing with Wombin Cultural Dancing, & wellness activities to name a few. 

A local band of Rabo Bank staff kindly volunteered to be our BBQ masters cooking over 900 sausages to feed the hundreds of hungry kids their lunch kindly donated by Woolworths Forbes and Forbes Shire Council. 

Thanks to our amazing staff and Forbes community for their support in making a success of the first inaugural BttB Community Engagement Day. 

Free Online Child Car Seat Safety Workshops

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IMAGE: The workshops are being conducted by Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils in partnership with Transport for NSW West Region.

Parents, carers and grandparents of young children are invited to attend one of two free online workshops being held to provide important safety information about child car seats. 

The workshops will be held via MS Teams, Wednesday 22 November at 10am and again at 7pm. 

The Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said the correct selection, installation and adjustment of child car seats is vital in ensuring children’s safety when travelling in vehicles. 

“The workshop will cover the National Child Restraint Laws, types of child car seats available, correct installation and adjustment, when to move to the next car seat, accessories, tips for secondhand car seats and much more”. 

“It will be a great refresher for grandparents, as child car seats and the rules have changed a lot since they had their children, but also for parents and carers as they are navigating their way through their child or children’s growth”. 

“The results of our local checking day events show that around 80% of the child car seats that were checked were incorrectly installed. Transport for NSW research shows that children who are not restrained correctly are seven times more likely to sustain life- threatening injuries in a crash than those who are properly secured. It is so important to ensure your precious cargo is safe” Ms Suitor said. 

These online workshops were the first of their kind when they were trialed in May 2023. 

“There were almost 20 families that took part in the May workshops. Participants rated the workshop 4.75 out of 5, said they would be very likely to recommend it to a friend or family member and were glad they had attended” Ms Suitor said. 

To book your place use this link: https:// bit.ly/NovemberWorkshops2023 or call on (02) 6861 2364.

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IMAGE: CONGRATULATIONS YEAR 12 All the best in your future endeavors.

Parkes High School 

A massive congratulations to our Year 12 – Class of 2023, who have all completed the HSC. As you now await your results, know we are extremely proud of you all and we can’t wait to hear of all your success and adventures in the future!. See you all on Friday at your Graduation 

R U OK?Day 

Don’t wait until someone tells you they are struggling. 

When we create safe spaces and meaningfully connect, we’re showing those we care about we’re there to support them with whatever they’re going through. 

What are YOUR top tips for connecting? https://bit.ly/3RYBSwb 

NSW Farmers 

Based in Nyngan in outback NSW, the Gary White Working Dog School is so popular that Gary travels around the world teaching the secret to training the perfect working dog. 

“You have to work with them – always be patient and kind. I’ve been training dogs for a long time now, it’s a big part of my life and much of my training is geared toward helping farmers on the land utilise their dogs in a better fashion https:// thefarmermagazine.com.au/farm-dog-school/ 

PCYC Parkes 

Join us for the PCYC Parkes Safer Driver Course on November the 17th at 4pm. 

Equip your child with life-saving tools and add 20 hours to their log book. Plus, we’ll provide afternoon tea and water bottles for all attendees. 

What’s more, your contribution to the course goes towards supporting our local community. Don’t miss out on this opportunity! 

Reserve your spot now: limited spots available pcycdrivereducation.org.au/book-a-course 

Forbes Shire Council 

How fantastic is the new footpath in Grenfell Street! And the one around the corner in Farnell Street. This project is being completed in line with Council’s Strategic Plan to link the northern end of Forbes with the CBD, thanks to the Australian Governments Local Roads and Community Infrastructure fund. 

Country Women’s Association (CWA) of NSW 

Reminder: membership fees are due 

If you haven’t paid already, renew today to ensure your membership continues. 

Go to www.cwaofnsw.org.au and log in to your account using your email address and password, the click the “renew now” button (under Welcome Back on the home page). 

If you’re unsure of your password, click “forgot password”. 

If you have trouble logging in contact State Office: 02 8337 0200. Note: do not create a new account – your payment needs to be linked to the account we already have for you. 

If you’re thinking of joining, find your branch: https://www.cwaofnsw.org.au/branches or join online https://www.cwaofnsw.org.au/join (new members only). 

Forbes High School 

Recently Year 7 and their Peer Support Leaders, were invited to the Boys To The Bush Community Engagement Day. We were one of 8 schools who were in attendance, and had so much fun, despite the heat. There was dancing, singing, sports, relaxation and culture. Mrs Smith was unfairly beaten in the teacher dance off, her Cold Spaghetti was definitely the best. 

Free Meal

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The Monthly Monday Meal being enjoyed at the Uniting Church Parkes

The Parkes Uniting Church has been providing a free meal to the community of Parkes for over six years. On the first Monday of every month the church sees between 35 – 50 people come through its doors to enjoy a fresh home cooked 2 course delicious meal. 

Doors open at 5.45pm and the meal is served at 6pm all year round. So if you would like some company or meet new people, or have trouble making ends meet or just want a night off from the kitchen, a beautiful meal awaits you. Just turn up. 

A team of approx. 12 people including church members plus a few members from the community are on a roster each month and provide a very warm and welcoming atmosphere. 

It is this church’s mission to reach out to the local community and try to be there in time of need. 

The following is some feedback which has come from those who support the dinner. Some of whom have been attending since the very first dinner. 

MMM Guests share the following thoughts about the meal they enjoyed on the 2nd of October 

“Always beautiful meals and good service”, “A great service here giving some of us local battlers a cooked delicious meal then a nice bowl of dessert. Finished off with a coffee or tea. Always very pleasant staff here”, “We have been here every month since it has started, except when they stopped for covid. The meals are fantastic and very delicious every time. 

We are very appreciative of the efforts given by the helpers for our monthly meals which are always delicious.” 

Insurers To Visit Central West NSW As 90 Percent Of Claims Closed

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The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and insurers will be in Parkes and Eugowra in November to assist insurance customers with their claims following last year’s floods. 

More than 90 per cent of all claims from the November 2022 flood event are now closed, with insurers actively working through remaining claims. 

This will be the fourth community consultation held in the region by the ICA and insurers since the floods that devastated the community almost one year ago, causing $246 million worth of insured damage. 

The in-person meetings are an opportunity for customers to discuss their claim directly with their insurer at a time that suits. 

Event details: 

• Tuesday, 7 November 2023 – Venue Parkes Services Club, Address 9/17 Short St, Parkes. Time 10.00am to 6.00pm 

• Wednesday, 8 November 2023 – VenueEugowra Community Bowls & Recreation Club, Address 5 Hill St, Eugowra. 10.00am to 6.00pm 

Policy holders from surrounding areas are also encouraged to book an appointment. To check appointment availability and to book go to www.insurancecouncil.com.au/Bookings 

Insurance Council of Australia CEO Andrew Hall said that “The severity of the floods in Central West New South Wales is evident in the scale of damage caused and the ongoing effects on impacted communities one year on”. 

Kerin Health Began As A Dream

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Rachel Pictured in the new build which is close to completion.

Kerin Health was founded in 2016 by local Rachel Kerin, and currently employs in excess of 25 Allied Health professions, all of which are women. 

Rachel Kerin had a dream to provide a service to rural and remote communities that was a premium standard of healthcare. A dream to have a close knit, multidisciplinary team that truly cared about clients and community. And so she created Kerin Health. It started with Rachel, and one other Physio who took a chance on a small start-up, Jess (who is still with Kerin Health). 

Very quickly, it was clear to Rachel that there was a real need for more access to Allied Health care in the Central West. In no time at all, she started bringing on new members to the team as needs grew in the surrounding areas. 

Kerin Health provides exceptional health care services to the local Parkes and surrounding communities through services such as Physiotherapy, Counselling, Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Early Intervention services, Women’s Health services and more. 

Rachel and the team are currently in the process of a major new building construction (due for completion in November 2023), which will expand their capacity to deliver services to the local community. This new, state of the art facility is the first of its kind in NSW. Some exciting components of this new build are an early learning sensory playground, sensory therapy clinic rooms, copious clinic room space, as well as a large pilates studio audio visual room which is available to hire to the local community. 

The new building will have three clinic rooms for hire to health professionals, “I’d love to get a psychologist here, I’d love to get a gynaecologist here, an obstetrician, so women don’t have to drive to Dubbo and Orange for their healthcare” said Rachel. 

The Kerin Health team are ready to help Parkes and Forbes locals

Phoenix Office
7/113-127 Rankin Street, Forbes NSW 2871

Editor
0432 337 278
editor@parkesphoenix.com.au

Sales
0432 337 278
sales@parkesphoenix.com.au

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