Health & Wellbeing

Canberra-based charity Abundant Water's East Timor project has well and truly exceeded all expectations by providing more than 6,000 East Timorese with access to clean safe water in the two months since the project activated. Abundant Water was created by Sunny Forsyth after he saw the need for accessible, safe water filters first-hand while working in Asia. Building on Abundant Water's...

As fires continue to burn along the coast from Bermagui to Batemans Bay, and into the Shoalhaven, a packed hall of Nethercote residents heard that resources remain understandably stretched across the state. And as coastal communities face months, not weeks of dealing with "this beast hanging around their backyards", the RFS has again come to the rescue, with timely advice...

The beard's back, and with it, the requirement that men take their investment in grooming up a few notches. No longer just for bushrangers and those who don't have easy access to a blade, 'statement' facial hair has recently been on the rise, especially among younger men. "The art of barbering has been trending for about five years," says Merimbula...

Science has warned us for decades how a changing climate will affect us, with weather tending to be hotter and drier and more extreme weather events. In the Bega Valley, residents have just experienced one such extreme event, with fires in the area consuming acres of bushland, homes, outbuildings and shops, and tragically killing two men from the Cobargo area....

Good news for locals and tourists alike - a boil water order for Eden and Boydtown has been lifted and you can drink straight from the tap again! NSW Health advised the boil water notice on January 5th after the Border fire affected power supplies to the chlorination facility for water drawn from the Ben Boyd Dam and Kiah Borefield....

The Bega Valley’s Bushfire Recovery Centre is now open and located in the Bega Valley Commemorative Civic Centre. The Recovery Centre, which is being managed by the NSW Department of Justice’s Office of Emergency Management in partnership with the Bega Valley Shire Council, is a ‘one-stop shop’, providing information and practical assistance to people affected by the bushfire emergency across...

New Year, new you, right? Yes, it's that time year again when we promise that our future selves will be better than the selves that brought us here. But New Year's resolutions are tough. That's what makes them worthwhile. So you might need some help to find and keep your new you. Whether it's stopping smoking, drinking less, exercising more...

The holiday season means many families come together and spend quality time together. The pace of our lives these days, and the fact that many families do not live close to each other, means that this time of year is an important chance for us to reconnect and check-in to see how people are travelling. It’s also a time of...

The ocean is a natural focus for summer on the Far South Coast, but every two years that interest and view to the east gets an added hit of colour, movement and power with the George Bass Surf Boat Marathon. Thirty-six surf boats and 25 ski paddlers will take to the water at Batemans Bay on Sunday, December 29. Over...

Moruya business owner Amanda Averay-Jones had never before seen a face cloth or tube of toothpaste elicit tears of gratitude. But when Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteers were handed personal care kits – complete with personal thank you notes – after hours or days battling the Currowan Bushfire, many fought back tears. Community members and businesses across the Far South...

Jan Harris and her family lost their proud Vimy Ridge home in the Tathra and District Bushfire of March 18, 2018. Just a few months later at the 2018 Festival of Open Minds, Jan spoke of her loss, "I am adrift without the anchors of my life" she told the 35o people gathered before a standing ovation. Click play on...

The Veolia Mulwaree Trust has announced the recipients of the 2019 Round 2 Grants and Donations Programmes. Nineteen community groups from across the region with a wide range of projects by providing $306,693 in grant funding in its second funding round of 2019, as well as a further 34 local organisations who have shared in $33,661 through the Veolia Mulwaree...

Local frustration around climate action took the first flush of headlines around the Acting Prime Minister’s visit to the Bega Valley yesterday, masking some worthy local projects that had 'their moment in the sun' all be it flanked by bush fire smoke from afar. Michael McCormack started his day at the Bega Saleyards were he opened new facilities aimed at improving...

Increased fire activity on the Clyde Mountain continues to make conditions dangerous, with police saying the Kings Highway will remain closed for the foreseeable future. The Currowan bushfire continues to burn north of the highway and is again at an emergency level as of 12:30 pm on Thursday (19 December). "There is still active fire in the areas around Benandarah,...

Australia is being hit by the double whammy of extreme heat and bushfire smoke prompting renewed health alerts for the days ahead. Added to this is the seasonal stress of Christmas and the prospect of holidays being disrupted due to bushfire. Even if you are not directly affected by fires, there may be stress from knowing people who are, as...

Aboriginal health and well-being services in the region are about to be supercharged with an aged care facility in Bega being re-purposed into an Aboriginal health clinic. The vacant Casuarina facility on Bega Street, Bega, operated by Sapphire Coast Community Aged Care has been sold to Katungul, the region's Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation. “We’re so excited to officially share with the...