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Celebrating a new Ballina Home Care hub News from across the North Coast online
David Lowe
www.echo.net.au
There was cake, songs and speeches as aged care provider BaptistCare NSW opened its new Home Care office in Ballina, providing a hub for clients and staff as the ageing population grows across the region. The event kicked off with a smoking ceremony and welcome from Bundjalung man Uncle Gilbert Laurie, who explained the traditional names and meanings of the surrounding area, shared that the traditional name for elders came from the colour of smoke, and taught everyone to say bugelbeh (thank you). Kia Handley from BaptistCare says the new Ballina hub is part of a strategy to help address changing customer demands and help
Epic tale of balsa raft survival to be remembered This Saturday there will be a special celebration at the Ballina Naval and Maritime Museum to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the historic Las Balsas Transpacific Expedition.
RoR Lismore: flood survivors to meet weekly on Lismore floodplain Reclaim our Recovery (RoR) – a group of frustrated survivors of last year’s devastating floods in Lismore are to meet weekly on the floodplain indefinitely while their struggle for bureaucratic transparency in the official recovery process continues.
The family of 102 year old BaptistCare Home Care client Josef Van Dommele at the opening of the new hub in Ballina. Photo David Lowe clients stay at home, living their best life, for as long as possible. ‘So we go in and help with whatever they
Mia Armitage
Police on Monday morning said the car involved in Tabulam’s fatal crash on the weekend was stolen.
More rescues than ever before as boating season officially starts
Terranora childcare centre for 109 kids approved by Tweed Shire Council A childcare centre for up to 109 children will be built opposite Terranora Public School, under plans approved by Tweed Shire Council.
Tweed Byron police release image of suspected cold case murderer Tweed-Byron Police District detectives have released a COMFIT image of a man suspected of murdering another man in Tweed Heads more than two decades ago.
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that regular connection with our incredible home care staff, and keep their independence,’ said Kia.
Forest campaigner in court Wanted: Northern Rivers hospital volunteers
Two dead in Tabulam stolen car crash
Marine Rescue NSW volunteers are pleading boaters to make sure vessels are in good working order before heading out to sea after a record-breaking start to the boating season.
need help with, sometimes it can be a trip to the grocery store, or cleaning, or cooking, and they’re able to have
BaptistCare chaplain Janet Whiting talked about the organisation’s 80 years of service ‘transforming lives’, before Senior Manager Wendy Mason spoke about the expansion of the organisation in the Northern Rivers, both for at home care and other servicess. ‘BaptistCare demonstrated its strong commitment to this region during those terrible floods in January 2022. We were one of the first providers to bring resources into the area. ‘Our nursing home at Coraki was totally surrounded by water and cut off. So we hired a helicopter, and brought in stuff from Sydney, we literally slept on the floor so that we could continue to care for our residents in the nursing home.’
Charges against Susie Russell were dismissed in the Foster Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Photo tree Faerie Veteran forest defender Susie Russell, who was the driving force behind the Trees Not Bombs cafe in Lismore after the 2022 floods, appeared in Forster Magistrates Court on Tuesday on charges related to an anti-logging protest earlier this year. Ms Russell, a member of the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) was arrested at the January 9 protest at Bulga Forest, west of Port Macquarie. NEFA says that Bulga State Forest is home to a nationally significant breeding population of the endangered greater glider, and the area is also being used by mother koalas with joeys. On January 9, Ms Russell was arrested after she walked around a corner to
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check on the well-being of a young woman on a tripod who was stopping the logging, and then walked back again, something reported in The Echo at the time. The police presented the article in the court as proof that she was tresspassing. The judge said unless The Echo reporter was in the courtroom to verify the story, then it was inadmissible at third-hand. NEFA says that a court of appeal has already ruled that the police did not have sufficient evidence to meet the elements of the offence Ms Russell was being charged with. The judge dismissed the charges, however, the police are continuing to pursue the matter at the local court level.
Thirty volunteers have donated nearly 1,000 hours of time and care to hospitals across the Northern Rivers since June as part of an official program launched this year. The Healthcare Helpers volunteer pilot program was announced in February after its serious consideration partway through the pandemic in July 2021. ‘I was employed to investigate volunteering in our hospitals,’ Northern NSW Local Health District Volunteering and Fundraising Manager Claire Quince said on Monday. ‘We’ve always had volunteers but it wasn’t an official program,’ she said, ‘over Covid we took a long time to think about what the program should look like’. The pilot program focussed on Lismore, Grafton and Maclean Hospitals, with 30 volunteers contributing around 900 hours. Ms Quince said public health district authorities across the region wanted to be included. Applications had been expanded to volunteer roles at Tweed, Nimbin, Ballina, Bonalbo, Urbenville and Kyogle hospitals. Murwillumbah, Byron and Casino hospitals are to join next year. Any approved volunteer was able to work in another participating hospital without having to repeat the training, Ms Quince said. Eighty Northern Rivers locals already had their
Nelly Luza Condoei is a volunteer at Lismore Base Hospital. Photo supplied names on a waitlist to volunteer, she said. Volunteer roles weren’t to replace qualified paid work but rather to allow ‘medical staff to get on with their jobs’ and to improve the experiences of patients and visitors, Ms Quince said. ‘A range of roles was available, ranging from meet-and-greet volunteers to social support companions for patients undergoing surgical procedures, cancer treatment and dialysis rehabilitation. ‘We speak with the general managers of the hospitals and their management teams to work out priorities for the program,’ Ms Quince said, ‘some wards are more complex and require more training’. Emergency departments were an example and Ms Quince said the program would only include one to start with, at the new Tweed
Valley Hospital when it opened next year. The same was said of ‘women’s care’ or maternity wards, although the demand was high across the region. Vetting and training of volunteers was painstaking, Ms Quince said, customised to the individual’s needs and in accordance with national volunteering standards and NSW Health policy. ‘Some people have intellectual disabilities, English as a second language or they come from culturally and language diverse backgrounds,’ Ms Quince said, ‘we really go at their pace’. Anyone interested in applying for the volunteer scheme was invited to visit the NNSWLHD website or contact Claire Quince on nnswlhd-volunteer@health. nsw.gov.au or 0459 953 520. Q Read more on this story at: www.echo.net.au.
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