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Festival held in Carnarvon to enhance rural families wellbeing

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -1000

The Rural Family Fun Festival held in Carnarvon by the Rural Financial Counselling Service of Western Australia (RFCSWA) has been hailed a success by more than 70 people who had the pleasure of attending.

The event was held on the 10^th of March at the Carnarvon Yacht Club. Funded by the 2010 Dry Seasons Assistance Scheme the day aimed to enhance the wellbeing and resilience of families in areas that have dealt with external pressures on agricultural business.

North East Farming Futures Group Inc (NEFF) Project Officer Kate Najar organised the event on behalf of RFCSWA. She said a highlight of the day was to see everyone enjoying the range of health and wellbeing activities.

Free activities and workshops included sailing, drumming, belly dancing, circus, basket weaving, community painting and local produce demonstrations for the whole family. Excitement reigned as children also had a fabulous time on the enormous bouncy castle, face painting and balloon twisting activities.

More importantly participants were able to receive rural business support, financial counselling, free health checkups and psychological assessments.

Feeling inspired and informed, participants were treated with a massage, bowen therapy, chiropractic care, reiki or a session of sound healing from an army of volunteers.

The festivities continued into the evening with live music from Beck Tuesley, solo artist from Geraldton, Lez Karski’s Band from Albany and amazing performances by professional athletes from Gascoyne Circus and Belly Dancers from Carnarvon and Geraldton.

Families sat back to enjoy a delicious buffet dinner provided by the RFCSWA and listened to speeches from NEFF and RFCSWA Chief Executive Chris Wheatcroft, RFCSWA Chairperson and Regional Men’s Health advocate Julian Krieg, Geraldton author and psychologist Elizabeth Szczepanska from Centrecare Family Services.

"It was interesting to hear about the gender differences in the brain and be reminded that we need to ensure our health and personal resilience is a priority "Ms Najar said.

Together with NEFF, RFCSWA held a similar festival in Morawa last year. The day was so successful it received a Premiers Active Citizenship Award for outstanding contribution to community on Australia Day earlier this year. Ms Najar said the Morawa festival inspired the suggestion for a family focused event in Carnarvon.

“Many plantations and stations in Carnarvon are still trying to recover from floods, disease issues, locust plagues and recent fires,” she said. “We wanted to help support this area to nurture and sustain healthy, vibrant rural communities by holding a positive event to build stronger networks and resilient communities so they can better manage difficulties caused by agricultural downturns,” Ms Najar said.

NEFF and RFCSWA would like to thank the committee, sponsors, and volunteer support networks who made it happen including: Jillian Bilcich, Sam Da Luz, Pati Stidworthy, Elizabeth Szczepanska, Jason Bartilotta, Megan Harris, Keitha Bradley, Roberta Brown, Chelsea Lawler, Julie Williamson, Anne-Louise Marchant, Helena Bassett, Kjersti Endresen and Robyn Bostelman from Gascoyne Chiropractic, The Water Corporation, The Shire of Carnarvon, St Mary’s School, IGA Carnarvon, Department of Agriculture and Food, Boomerang Party Hire, Midwest and Regional Men’s Health.

NEFF is an organisation dedicated to developing viable farming futures using the best agricultural expertise possible. The organisation manages $1.6 million annually in projects including the Commonwealth grant for the RFCSWA. This service provides free, practical and proven financial counselling to farming, fishing and small agricultural businesses facing financial difficulty across rural communities in Western Australia. To find out more about the service call 1800 612 004 or go to www.rfcswa.com.au.

If you are under pressure, get help now

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -1000

Message to farming businesses: if you’re feeling under pressure, don’t wait until it’s too late to get help. Contact the RFCS WA for help now, while it’s possible to make adjustments to your business.

RFCS financial counsellor Mandy McLean is keen for farmers and farm-related businesses to understand that there is help available if they are struggling with business finances.

She has been reflecting on the number of rural businesses that have been affected by poor cropping seasons and may need help, prompted by the fact that she and other counsellors have been very busy right through the seeding season.

It's usually a quieter time for rural financial counsellors. But this season has been different - the number of farm businesses seeking help remains high.

"Most of the clients I have seen during this time only received limited bank funds for smaller than usual seeding programs. As they were able to complete their programs more quickly, they have turned their attention to their business finances and longer term strategic planning," she says.

"Over the last decade, some people's business positions have declined as a result of poor seasons due to drought and frost, and other factors. People are feeling a bit insecure with falling property values and lending ratios."Some people feel in a jam. They need to make adjustments to their businesses, for example to sell part of the property, but property is really hard to sell at the moment.

"I've also worked with small businesses that provide services to agricultural businesses, who are finding their cash flow under pressure as farm work declines. With very tight cost control around reduced cropping programs, there's no extra money for farmers to spend on maintenance projects and this now has a flow-on effect for contractors and small businesses.

"For example, a contractor who provides minor construction services such as concreting, fencing, and so on, may find work has dried up because of farmers' very tight budgets. That extra work hasn't made it onto farmers' priority lists."

Those businesses are turning to the RFCS WA for business planning support.

How we can help

"We work with businesses to help them find options," Mandy says. "Solutions will be different for every business, depending on their goals and vision. We engage with the business using a business planning framework and we assist them to make adjustments to their operations in line with their aspirational goals.

"We help businesses to review their cash flow budgets, and to talk to banks about availability of finance. Some businesses have needed a temporary overdraft to support a job - they had to purchase a lot of materials in advance, but didn't have the cash flow to proceed.

"Where businesses are viable but experiencing a down turn, we can look at overall business practices, for example, tightening up terms of credit for clients. Contractors often know their customers and allow payment terms to blow out. People are paying their bills but a bit more slowly, and that can have a significant impact on cash flow. We look at what they can do to reduce the impact on the business.

"We encourage businesses to look at the bigger picture. A couple may, for example, seek work outside of their own business as a temporary measure, hoping to get back into it when things improve.

"With all of our clients, we work through the business planning framework to discover whether their short term decisions support their longer term vision and goals.

"Some of the people I'm working with have decided to exit the industry and sell their farms. This means embarking on a process that requires planning and support for families. We help them to make sure their exit strategies are being managed and that every decision they make supports their longer-term vision."