Bake Off at Neighbourhood Central: Staff at Neighbourhood Central organised their annual Bake Off for Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea to help raise money for cancer research. It was decided to make it a bake off, and staff members agreed on a fixed donation price to participate and brought along a home-made treat. There were lots of good treats with Lyn Townsend crowned queen of the kitchen for 2018 with her delicious cream and strawberry pancake sandwiches.
Mock Crash: Production is well underway for this year’s Mock Crash Demonstration on Friday, 17th August with the establishing scenes filmed recently. Celebrating its 10th year, the demonstration has seen over 5,000 local students learn about the responsibilities and risks associated with getting behind the wheel with around 500 Year 10 students from Parkes, Forbes and the Lachlan Shire taking part every year. “Since the program commenced, we have recorded a 27% reduction in local crashes involving young drivers,” said Melanie Suitor of the Parkes Shire Council. The demonstration will take place at Parkes High School’s multi-purpose centre, and the final dress rehearsal will be open to the public.
Supporting Parkes’ Children: The children’s charity Royal Far West will be holding a community meeting in Parkes on Thursday, 28th June at the Coventry Room at 5:30pm. Participants from Royal Far West, Charles Sturt University and Fairfax Media will join Parkes’ local government, health and education leaders and families to discuss the state of children’s developmental health in rural and remote NSW. Parents, teachers, health care workers, and the business community are invited to discuss trends, challenges and what is working locally in order to create a plan for change, lobby for more targeted funding, and work with the community to build its capacity to support impacted children and families. To attend, register at www.royalfarwest.org.au/town-hall/ or email community@royalfarwest.org.au or call 1800 961 001.
Only Two Weeks To New Child Care: Member for Riverina and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack is urging families to switch to the new child care and early learning system or risk missing out on the new subsidies. The new package will begin on 2nd July and provides the highest rate of subsidy to those on the lowest income levels and more hours of subsidy to those who work the most. The Government is increasing early childhood education and
care by $2.5 billion over the next four years so that almost one million Australian families benefit – low and middle-income families will be the greatest beneficiaries from the package. The safety net includes special funding for regional and Indigenous-focused centres, and 12 hours or around two sessions a week of guaranteed access to
care/learning for families earning less than around $66,958 even if they don’t meet the activity test. The change over is not automatic and needs to be done online.