OPENING OF NEWLY REFURBISHED MIDCOAST VETERANS WELLBEING CENTRE

The newly refurbished Midcoast Veterans’ Wellbeing Centre will officially open today.

Federal Member for Lyne Dr David Gillespie said the new centre was part of the Mid North Coast Veterans Community Wellbeing Enhancement Project.

“The project aims to enhance the veteran community’s social connectedness, access to health and wellbeing support,” Dr Gillespie said.

“The Midcoast Veterans’ Wellbeing Centre is the third Centre in the Network and forms part of a connected network of Advocates and Support Officers from Taree to Grafton on the NSW Mid North Coast. The Centre has expanded on the current advocacy services provided to Veterans and their Families.

The project secured $1-million in Federal funding under the Commonwealth Government’s Veteran Wellbeing Grants One-Off Program.

“A lot of our veterans have been helped by various organisations, including the Mid North Coast Veteran Wellbeing initiative. They had worked up a proposal prior to the last election whereby 11 different organisations were going to be recipients of a $5 million grant that came through following the last Coalition budget to support the development of unified housing and a wellbeing unit covering those areas,” Dr Gillespie said.

“There were a lot of people who were very disappointed to hear that that money had been withdrawn by the Albanese Government. At the time this occurred, I called on the minister to review his decision quite urgently because a lot of hard work and a lot of expectation had been built up for our worthy veterans across the board.”

“In my electorate I have about 3,000 veterans. That is a big slice of veterans in the North Coast,” Dr Gillespie told Parliament at the time.

The Mid North Coast Veteran Wellbeing initiative later applied for a one-off grant and secured $1-million under a different program that was created.

There are three locations for the initiative

• Coffs Coast Veterans’ Wellbeing Centre – 4 Scarba Street, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450

• Hastings Valley Veterans’ Wellbeing Centre – 21 Cameron Street, Wauchope NSW 2446

• MidCoast Veterans’ Wellbeing Centre – 75 Muldoon Street, Taree NSW 2430.