On Monday 15 January, volunteers from the Arawang Emergency Relief Hub welcomed a visit from Independent Senator, David Pocock. The hub, which is run in partnership by Anglicare and the Arawang Anglican Church, is completely volunteer-staffed and operates once a week on Monday mornings, providing free food and personal items to those in need.
“The visit was an opportunity give a front-line perspective on how the cost-of-living crisis is impacting Canberrans”, said Anglicare’s Emergency Relief Coordinator for the ACT, Rachael Tscharke.
“The senator was very generous with his time. Bearing in mind that the Hub was operational throughout the visit, he made every effort to speak with as many volunteers as possible and to thank them for their work.”
In the last year alone, the team at Arawang have seen a 72 percent increase in the number of households assisted, and a 101 percent increase in those seeking assistance for the first time. Lynne Newman, Volunteer Team Leader at the hub, has watched the need grow month after month. Late last year she began writing to local representatives to provide her first-hand perspective on the issue and to invite them to visit the hub.
She was glad that Senator Pocock and his staff made the effort to come in person. “I think that they were surprised at some of the statistics that Anglicare provided for them regarding the increasing demand for assistance”, said Lynne. “The ‘big picture’ is usually made of thousands of ‘little pictures’ and I think it is important to keep our politicians and decision makers aware of the ongoing impact of cost-of-living decisions on individuals and families in our community”.
The hub provides approximately $100 worth of assistance to individuals per visit, and more to couples and families. Government funding covers only around 15 percent of this assistance, while current reporting guidelines often underestimate the need in the community by focusing on households helped rather than total individuals helped.
During his visit, the Senator spoke to volunteers who collect surplus fresh food donations from local supermarkets every week to help stock the fridges. “This is an area where we would like to see government play a role in incentivising the donation of good, quality and nutritious produce to Emergency Relief providers”, explained Rachael.
The team at Arawang were pleased to share their experiences, and the importance of the work they are doing. One volunteer expressed their appreciation of how interested and insightful the Senator and his staff were throughout their visit, saying: “They were deeply touched at hearing some of the kinds of situations folk find themselves in and fully understood why there is such an increase in demand. They could see why it was not just about helping homeless people, but those just trying to survive incredibly challenging life circumstances”.
The Arawang Emergency Relief Hub currently has enough volunteers to operate once weekly. With the ongoing increase in demand for their services, however, the hub is looking for additional volunteers to allow the service to operate more frequently. If you are interested in volunteering with Anglicare contact 02 6232 2488 or visit the Get Involved section of our website.
