A newly formed group named the ‘Coota Companions’ will be holding meetings on the first Tuesday of every month at 2pm in the Intereach Cootamundra office on the corner of Wallendoon and Coopers streets.
Coota Companions will be holding a stall with further information at the Cootamundra Show, on Saturday 18th October in the Pavillion. The next meeting of the Coota Companions will be on Tuesday 4th November.
Marge Blackney, a current member of the LHAC (Local Health Advisory Committee), explains how the creation of ‘Coota Companions’ came to be.
“It began with a phone call to a friend of mine from a concerned citizen wanting to know if Cootamundra had any support for carers, particularly carers of people with dementia. As I used to run a Dementia Day Centre and a Carer Support group many years ago, I was then given their number to ring them back. Having had previous contact with Intereach about the same concern. I revisited them enquiring about a venue to host a support group if we could gain enough interest. They were very happy to allow us to use one of their rooms.
“LHAC were going to invite Isabel Baker (author of her book “A to Z in Dementia Care”) to come and talk with the view to gain interest in forming such a group. However, before we could do this, she launched her book, visiting a number of libraries. This gave me the opportunity to start getting names and contacts of interested people. Soon after that, Cootamundra had their Coota Connections Expo. This gave me the opportunity to talk to a large number of Service providers. Many, like The Primary Health Network, Marathon Health, Carer Gateway and Meals on Wheels etc, were more than happy to provide support.
“I continued to gather contacts by spreading the word in various community groups. Once we had a core group Billie-Jo (Intereach), Kerry (Meals On Wheels) and I held our first meeting at Intereach. Hence the rebirth of our Carer Support group, known as Coota Companions. This group will provide an opportunity to gain information and support while sharing and caring over a cuppa with friends.”
National Carer’s Week will be held from the 12th – 18th October and is an annual event dedicated to recognising and celebrating the vital contributions of Australia’s unpaid family and friend carers, raising awareness about their diverse roles, and educating the community about the challenges they The week provides an opportunity to thank carers for their dedication and to highlight the need for greater support services and community awareness.
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.
