NRMA crews have returned home from the first Outback Links projects scheduled for 2021 with stories of tragedy, courage and hope
April project
On the morning of April 12, a group of NRMA staff departed Sydney en route to southern New South Wales as part of Frontier Service's volunteer program 'Outback Links' – an initiative that connects volunteers with regional communities in need of a helping hand.
Bombala – a small township about 40km north of the Victorian border – served as home base for the team to service nearby towns for the next five days.
These communities, much like the rest of the Snowy Monaro region they’re situated in, were ravaged by the 2019–2020 summer bushfires, with property, livestock and homes all taken in the disaster.
The NRMA’s crew of 10, comprised of four corporate and six roadside assistance patrol volunteers, split up between farms in the area to undertake both skilled and unskilled work.
Farmer John and his faithful sheepdog Ned lost their Cathcart home, but you wouldn’t know it by meeting them. Welcoming the team each morning with the offer of a cup of tea, John personifies resilience and smiling in the face of hardship.
His inner strength is something to be admired as he turns the loss of his home into an opportunity to create his vision and start afresh. Assisted by the Outback Links team, John began work on his new tiny home project, consisting of a shipping container converted to a living space.
He’s also taken to photography in the wake of the disaster, happily sharing images he took of the destruction with any volunteers interested in seeing.
