Residents in fire-affected areas west of Kempsey are now able to access support services as the road to recovery begins.
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A Recovery Centre has been set-up at the Willawarrin Hall, pulling together numerous government and non-government services.
"The Recovery Centre is to help people that have been affected by the bushfires to get the help they need," Director North Coast NSW Reconstruction Authority, Karen McPaul said.
"There are services such as Service NSW, Department of Primary Industries, Legal Aid and Disaster Relief assessors."
Ms McPaul said she encourages anyone who has been bushfire-affected to attend the Recovery Centre.
"If you can't come along to the Recovery Centre, we have the Service NSW contact number that people can also reach out to," she said.
The Recovery Centre opened on Thursday morning, October 26.
"We've had a number of people through the door accessing a range of services and it has been difficult to hear the stories of people that have been badly affected," Ms McPaul said.
The importance of having a Recovery Centre in Willawarrin is so people can have face-to-face contact.
"Many people operating out of the Recovery Centre are from the community and worked here during the 2019/2020 Black Summer Bushfires," Ms McPaul said.
"We know people are still recovering from those fires and everyone recovers differently.
"It's important that we're here and give people the support they need."
Residents can access these services at the Willawarrin Recovery centre:
- Service NSW and Business Concierge
- Department of Primary Industries
- Rural Adversity Mental Health Program
- Rural Financial Counselling Services
- Australian Red Cross
- Legal Aid NSW
- NRMA Insurance
- Salvation Army
- Disaster Relief Grants Assessor
Located at Willawarrin Community Hall, 24-26 Main St, Willawarrin, the Recovery Centre will open during the following hours:
- Thursday, October 26 - 9am to 5pm
- Friday, October 27 - 9am to 5pm
- Saturday, October 28 - 10am to 3pm
- Monday, October 30 - 9am to 5pm
- Tuesday, October 31 - 12pm to 7pm
Rapid Relief Team charity feeds firefighters
Rapid Relief Team (RRT) volunteers made sure firefighters in the Macleay Valley had the nourishment they needed to respond to the fires at Willi Willi near Kempsey.
A team of RRT volunteers from Maitland and Armidale were deployed to the region to feed the firefighters and emergency responders who kept communities around Kempsey safe.
"Our team of RRT volunteers served 650 lunch packs and signature burgers and our hearty sausage burgers to feed 130 emergency service responders," RRT Team Leader Peter Sargeant, of Armidale said.
"Our volunteers are always on standby ready willing and able to continue if the RFS need us."
The RRT is the charitable arm of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.
Established in 2013, RRT has more than 14,500 volunteers around the world who assist emergency services in times of disaster and crisis by providing meals and other support.
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