Mega Farm Rescue - Forbes October 2018

We had worked with Rural Aid on a few Farm Rescues during 2018 and were blown away by the experiences we had.  


Farm Rescues aim to send a team of volunteers onto a farm to help out with whatever the farmers need; often it’s not farming-related jobs, but things that they just can’t get to because they don’t have the time and/or money to get to themselves.  It’s hopefully helping to improve their quality of life and give them a foot up with things.  Often it’s just letting them know that somebody does give a damn.


But the Forbes Mega Farm Rescue was a different animal.  When Charles Alder, the CEO of Rural Aid, mentioned the idea to us round a campfire one night it seemed incredible.  More so, because he wanted this to happen in only a few short months time.  The amount of work to pull it all together was huge; and yet, on Thursday 11 October 2018, Doug and I pulled into the show grounds in Forbes to set up our van for what was going to be an epic couple of weeks.


The week itself kicked off on Monday, with over 160 volunteers heading out onto 13 local farms to help with fencing, building projects, machinery repairs, household maintenance - you name it.  But there was a tonne of work before hand getting ready for the volunteers’ arrival.  Over three days we cleaned up and set up a mini “village” which the volunteers would call home while they were helping out.  And we welcomed them all as they arrived and made sure they knew what was happening.  By Sunday afternoon the place was buzzing with excitement as we gathered for our first briefing.  Teams were announced and packs of safety equipment and work shirts were distributed and everyone was really keen to get out there and get going.  


Ground zero - the shed!

Load upon load of donated goods ready to be made up into food hampers

Hampers ready to be distributed

 The “farmy army” comprised of volunteers aged between 28 and 75 and came from around the country to help.  Their days began at 6:30am for breakfast before they headed off to their assigned farms at 8am. From there, they helped out with jobs on the farm until 4pm or 5pm.


Our team was made up of 13 wonderful people from all over the country and all walks of life.  We were ably led by Lee and Rosey (whom we’d worked with previously on 3 other rescues) and we were a tight-knit bunch.  As well as working like a well-oiled machine, we chose to spend most of our down-time together too, gathering for meals together and relaxing round our little campfire in the evenings.  We were christened “The A Team” (probably by ourselves, but it stuck) and I’m sure we were the envy of all the other teams (haha).  

The A Team

The team that eats together.....

Team leader Brandy (and her owner Rosey)




 We had been allocated to a lovely farming family who made us very welcome and appreciated the help we gave them.  The farm was outside Forbes and was owned by I, who farmed sheep and cattle but was struggling with the terrible drought.  The paddocks were barren and the dams were drying up.  I had help on the farm from his sister H and her husband L.  All of them were on the far side of middle age (don’t tell H I said that!!) and although spritely, there were some jobs that weren’t as easy any more.  And older sister S, who is 75, came down from Parkes to spend the week and prepare us the most wonderful morning teas every day.  So you see, we had it very good.


Doug loved the morning teas

 The team had lots to keep us busy over the week.  We lifted the old wool shed floor, which was very worn and dangerous, and laid a new one.  We helped erect new walls in the wool shed. We fixed the fences in the sheep yards outside the shed so they were safe and stable.  We painted the entire outside of I’s house and we helped put up over a kilometre of new fencing.  Oh, and Doug did a bit of tree work too.  It was a busy week; but so rewarding.  To see the change in our farmer over the time we spent with him was heart warming; going from a quiet, reticent man to someone keen to share his knowledge and love of his area and his farm.


 Life in the “village” was great too.  There were about 90 or so set ups in the campground; everything from modest two-man tents to a huge motorhome built from a semi-trailer and everything in between.  We got to know so many lovely people and everyone was there with the same mindset.  There was a huge shed which we used as a dining hall/meeting hall/entertainment hall - everything took place there.  There was a movie night, a Hawaiian-themed dinner and a “Thank You” dinner for all the farmers and their families.  On another evening, the teams were encouraged to head out and sample the delights of the eating houses in Forbes; an initiative to help inject some much-needed funds into the local community.  Our team descended on the local Thai restaurant and were treated to a wonderful banquet.  


Dinner at the Thai restaurant

 The Mega Rescue, due to its size and the scope of what we were doing, created a lot of interest from the local community and from further afield.  We were featured in local papers and on news bulletins and one of the major sponsors, Nova radio’s Fitzy and Wippa, came and did their morning broadcast from the dining hall.   There was going to be a live cross to Sunrise one morning too, but we were bumped by Harry and Meghan!


Fitzy and Wippa's broadcast

Lunches made for us by the local high school students

 All too quickly, the week flew by and Saturday saw most of the volunteers pack up and start travelling home.  After a big tidy-up and helping pack all the gear back in the truck, there was only Rosey and Lee and us left by the end of the day.  The four of us had offered to stay on for a few days as there were a couple of things still to finish off at the farm.  It was a very different place when the “circus” had moved on.  We had a quiet day on Saturday and on Sunday afternoon, we packed up the vans and moved out to the farm, where we spent some peaceful time with the family, finishing off the painting and the wool shed.


Nice and straight now

A load of donated orange pulp for cattle feed

 As I said earlier, this rescue had been very different from those we had been part of earlier in the year.  The earlier ones were just one team and one farm and we stayed on the farm, worked on the farm and prepared our meals and ate on the farm.  The experience in those cases was more intimate and personal.  But the mega rescue was big and bold and fun, and the end result was the same - we were able to form bonds with amazing people, to help someone out and give something back.