Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

After seven years of raising money for the Grafton Base Hospital's palliative care unit, Denise Barnier and Rosemary Munro, also known as Friends Who Care, held their last fundraiser on Saturday night, 19 May. Over many years, the duo have raised nearly $100,000—an outstanding achievement—and I thank them very much for their many years of dedication to our community.

The funds have been used to fully furnish the palliative care ward and to buy numerous oncology chairs and beds. Rosemary's and Denise's efforts have always been supported by the local community, with the Grafton District Services Club always offering its venue for free. Other long-time supporters include Arthur Lysaght and Roger Green. Roger, through his busking and his own fundraising efforts, has contributed nearly $20,000 to Friends Who Care and has also raised more than $100,000 for local charities over the years.

The final Friends Who Care fundraising event last Saturday night was to raise money to purchase a portable bladder ultrasound. I thank Rosemary, Denise and Roger for their hard work over the last seven years. They have done our community a great service and should be proud of their achievements.

I would also like to thank Ursula Tunks and her Grafton-based volunteer group, the Mend and Make Do Crew, for the terrific work they do in our community. Just last week they handed back three culturally significant paintings by Albert Namatjira's family, which they came across at a deceased estate, to his family's estate. It was a wonderful example of practical reconciliation, but the work the Mend and Make Do Crew do is much more than that.

Founded five years ago by Ursula, Gloria Keogh, Patrina Whyte, Dan Jensen, Mark de Dassel, Stephen O'Grady and Sussie Golden, the group uses arts and crafts to promote social inclusion and to help the homeless and those in need. From its warehouse, the group, which now has more than a dozen volunteers, puts together linen kits, kitchen starter kits and cleaning kits, plus a range of other starter kits that support the work of about 20 frontline charities and non-government groups. They have distributed more than 4,300 of these kits as far afield as Port Macquarie and Brisbane, and into the Toowoomba and Warwick regions in South-East Queensland. By supplying these much needed kits to frontline organisations like Clarence Valley's St Vinnies, Anglicare North Coast, OnTrak and Community Connections, it means these organisations can use their money to deliver other services. The Mend and Make Do Crew rely on donations from the community and operate two commercial operations—an arts and crafts op-shop and an arts and craft studio—to help fund their work. This week is National Volunteer Week, and I'd like to thank the Mend and Make Do Crew and all the other volunteers in my community who do so much.

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