Armadale-Kelmscott Uniting Church partnered with Good Samaritan Industries (GSI), a Uniting Church WA agency, to hold their very first Smarty Pants Swap Shop in early August.
The congregation invited members of their local community to drop in and donate good quality, clean clothes they no longer need. They were then invited to take what they would like from the already donated items.
Farmers in WA are facing desperate drought conditions inland, while those in the north are still recovering from the floods of two years ago.
Inland, WA farmers are battling the impact of the worst drought in living memory. The grass is dead. The ground is barren. Hand feeding stock is relentless, physically demanding and it takes most of the day and most of the farmer’s energy. Then there is the crippling financial pressure as feed and water prices soar.
UnitingCare Australia urges the Government once again to abandon the flawed Drug Testing Bill before Parliament today.
Those unfortunate enough to be battling addiction need support services and counselling, not humiliation and welfare quarantining.
There is a consensus of voices from across the organisations who work with the most vulnerable people in Australia demanding a preventive, evidence-based approach.
It’s been an incredibly tough time for people in the bush, especially our Aussie farmers. In the latest issue of Frontier News, Greg and Bethany Stace, share their struggle with the ongoing drought and how Outback Links volunteers made a difference to their family.
“It’s been really difficult with this drought, so having these volunteers really saves us…You can sit down and have a chat over a meal. It gives you a mental break from the stress,” said Greg.
As the week of action to Raise the Rate of Newstart gets underway today, UnitingCare Australia echoes calls for an immediate increase to Newstart and Youth Allowance payment levels to ensure their adequacy in meeting basic living costs.
UnitingCare Australia is also renewing its call for the establishment of an independent mechanism to assess the adequacy of all income support payments and adjust rates to acceptable levels.
You can make a real difference to our farmers by hosting a Great Outback BBQ.
After a record hot start to 2019 and a soul-destroying dry Winter forecast, Frontier Services is calling on all congregations to host a Great Outback BBQ in support of our farmers who have been affected by drought, fires and floods.
The latest copy of The Big Issue states that “more than 116 000 Australians don’t have a place to call home each night – and more than 8 000 of these people are sleeping rough”.
Indeed, I’ve noticed an increase in the number of rough sleepers in the doorways, parks, alleyways and on pavements in Perth’s CBD over the past year or so. Many of them depend on the charity of passers-by and/or charitable organisations for the wherewithal to continue living.
How can we be so hard-hearted to see these unfortunate human beings struggling to keep alive, whilst doing so little to help them, in what is claimed to be a nation built on Christian values?
The President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Dr Deidre Palmer, has encouraged Australians to put the urgent needs of others ahead of short-term self-interest, after the Federal Government delivered its 2019 Budget.
The Budget has promised, all going to plan, $158 billion in income tax cuts over a decade on the back of projected Budget surpluses.
Despite the positive projections though, the foreign aid budget has again been cut, and there is no improvement for Australians relying on welfare payments, particularly the Newstart allowance.
In a devastating blow for the Busselton and Nannup communities, most of the premises of the Match Factory was destroyed by fire on Saturday 16 March. Match Factory is an op-shop and low cost food centre run by Busselton Uniting Church, but it is so much more than that to the many people involved.
Match Factory also provide emergency hampers of food, bedding and clothing to people in need, as well as an important network for both clients and volunteers.
As we head into the New Year, the team at UnitingCare West would like to thank everyone in the Uniting Church community for the generous support shown during its 2018 Christmas Appeal.
Amanda Hunt, CEO of UnitingCare West, said demand from families for food and gifts over the festive season was unprecedented, with hundreds of hampers delivered from each of their three Service Hubs in Perth City, Merriwa and Fremantle.