News & Insights

The Mid-Coast Outreach team assist people across the NSW mid coast with all sorts of hardships including natural disasters

Mid Coast Outreach Incorporated (MCOI) is a growing fully registered Public Benevolent Institution run by volunteers, born out of the community’s needs after the Black Summer Fires in November of 2019.

Mid Coast Outreach provides practical and material relief, referral, counselling, internet, free tea and coffee, as well as building human connection within the community. They accept any client who is going through crisis whether that is personal or event-based (such as a natural disaster). Their area covers the Mid Coast area of New South Wales (NSW), including coastal areas Seal Rocks, Forster and Taree, and inland to Gloucester, Stroud, Bulahdelah and Wingham – of which a large area of bushland was destroyed during the 2019-2020 Black Summer fires. 

In addition to an op-shop, and incorporating fund programs with grants, Mid Coast Outreach is also planning an online store in future to assist with fundraising efforts. Management is through a committee process, with the operations manager, office manager, president, public officer and treasurer all elected via this committee. 

Two weeks before Christmas , MCOI were operating out of the president’s family home. However, due to necessity, MCOI Outreach moved to a commercial property. Concentrating first on generating income, MCOI planned to start building offices. Unfortunately, the community was then hit with devastating floods, increasing clients by over 100. 

The organisation is currently in the process of applying for larger grants and require more exhaustive risk documentation relating to their operations and business. At present they are seeking some additional support to develop the immediately required documentation in their application for the Black Summer Fire Grant. Greencap was engaged as a trusted H&S advisor to understand organisational information and to develop documentation. 

Greencap is happy to assist such an important business providing tailored care to the community through networking and connections, community relations and reputation.

“We cannot thank Greencap enough to start our journey to what we thought was Mount Everest. When it came to Risk management and the Policies and procedures surrounding the formal set up of our charity, we did not know where or how to start,” says Sharon Chamberlain, President and Public Officer of MCOI. 

“Thanks to Greencap we have formally placed and started the majority of this and are currently applying and implementing their amazing work which they have completed for MCOI,” she added. 

What Greencap assisted Mid Coast Outreach with: 

1.  Training Procedures
2.  Incident Response and Reporting Procedures
3.  Ergonomic Hazards Identification and Management / Wider Risk Management Procedures
4.  Travel Management Procedures
5.  Document and Data Control Procedures
6.  First Aid Procedure
7.  Fire Safety and Management Procedures

“It was great to be a part of a very important Pro-Bono project for Mid Coast Outreach Incorporated. In our first meeting with Sharon, the MCOI President, I was really inspired by the work they do, and how important this project is going to be for this organisation,” commented the Greencap team. 

“This project was very important for helping people facing extremely challenging circumstances within their local communities. I view this project as a token of appreciation for the great work that people and volunteers at MCOI are doing,” they added. 

How to help 

Learn more about Mid Coast Outreach and donate here – all money raised will be used for people struggling with all forms of crises, including natural disasters, all across the Mid Coast of NSW. 

Check out their Facebook page here for more information and to keep up with the latest news. 

If more information is required, please contact Sharon Chamberlain at Mid Coast Outreach at [email protected] or  (02) 6553 4497. 
 

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