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Rural Aid has been a saving grace for the Green family in more ways than one – as it has been for a number of Peak Hill farming families.
And volunteers from the charity that’s dedicated to supporting farmers and rural communities before, during and after natural disasters, came rolling through their gates again just a few months ago.
Rural Aid chose Peak Hill for its final Farm Recovery Event for 2025 when organisers heard many of its farmers were still quietly rebuilding after the November 2022 floods three years on.
And that the community is still facing tough conditions looking ahead.
The 2022 floods were widespread in the Central West and the Parkes Shire was among those hit, with 80mm to 100mm of rain falling overnight on 14 November over just a few hours.
Rural Aid maintained a strong relationship with Peak Hill producers since this night, delivering financial assistance, hay and mental health support in the aftermath.
Thirty five volunteers arrived in Peak Hill over the last week in October, working across seven farms installing and repairing more than four kilometres of fencing, checking and repairing dam pumps, vegetation clearing and helping with home improvements and property maintenance such as painting rooms, patching walls and pressure-cleaning homes.
They also turned their attention to several community spaces: Repaired seating and painted doors at the Peak Hill Showground, trimmed hedges at the Peak Hill Bowling Club, and upgraded the Community Garden greenhouse.
And they mowed lawns and restored outdoor spaces for families to enjoy again.
Third generation farmer Heather Green told Rural Aid she and her family tried to focus on staying positive as they cleaned up the mess left behind by the flood on their farm, which grows wheat, barley, canola and pastures.
The flood travelled down Burrell Creek which begins at the Herveys Ranges in Goobang National Park and came through Peak Hill with a metre waterfront, the mother of three said, and wiped out everything.
“There was sheep, neighbour’s sheep, floating down paddocks, fences all washed out,” she said.
“It was really devastating to see.”
Heather admitted remaining positive was hard throughout the recovery.
“Keeping everyone positive about going and fixing stuff, because it takes time to fix things, and hours and a lot of hands-on,” she said.
“So we’re really trying to keep together as a family and just work on fencing or… have a plan and stick to the plan, and just work on little things at a time and chip our way through it.”
Rural Aid volunteers showing up and helping out in Peak Hill, Heather said has been amazing.
“Just to come into your front gate and it’s painted, it’s bright, it’s cheerful. It’s brought a lot to us as a family,” she said.
“It just puts a smile on everyone’s faces.
“Little things that haven’t been done for years have been achieved, we’re very grateful for that.”
Rural Aid has been there for Heather’s family during some of their hardest times on the land.
“We first heard about Rural Aid when we were at our wit’s end with the drought and went to a counselling session,” she said.
“They were very kind and sent gift vouchers and stuff that put food on the table because we were at bottom-bottom point.
“Like it was making sure that everything in the fridge got eaten or reused, there wasn’t anything leftover, so we were very grateful for the gift vouchers and support.”
They were also registered for one of Rural Aid’s hay drops.
During the biggest droughts they’ve had to get rid of a lot of stock which Heather said was heartbreaking.
But there was one thing more important for Heather.
“It was more our mental health that I tried to look after most, and just having something prepared for dinner,” she said.
“Just being really organised, and making sure everyone’s mental health was okay. And keeping that on track.”
There’s no hiding the fact the season ahead is going to be tough – most of the Central West, Central Tablelands and Riverina are drought affected, according to the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ combined drought indicator.
For Heather and her family, it’s the support that makes all the difference.
“The support of everyone as a community and Rural Aid has helped,” she said.
“The support and the encouragement, like everyone around here is in the same situation.
“As long as we keep supporting each other we’ll all get through it.”
Rural Aid receives a lot of support from the public through donations and fundraising to allow them to do what they do.
Their Farm Recovery program runs a number of times between March and October across Australia every year with volunteers travelling from all around the country wanting to help communities.
Rural Aid CEO John Warlters and chair of the Woolworths Group Foundation Kate Eastoe were also on the ground in Peak Hill last year.
Woolworths has been Rural Aid’s longest-term sponsor and most generous sponsor, giving $12 million since 2017, two years after the charity was established.
“That’s from the generous donations of our customers which we’re thrilled of and also from Woolworths supermarkets,” Kate said.
Those funds, John said, allows them to do so much, like come to Peak Hill to work on farms.
“When we get to communities like Peak Hill and we get on farms working with the individual farmers, the consistent message we get is what an absolute difference it makes to their lives,” he said.
“It’s just given everyone in the community an absolute boost and raised their spirits.
“It’s not so much about the work we actually do, it’s the conversations that we have and how impactful they are.
“[It] just reinforces the importance of what we do and why we do it, together.”
The Green family are just one of these very grateful farmers.
“I’d just like to say we are so, so very grateful from the bottom of our family’s hearts and our community, we all appreciate every single bit,” Heather said.
“And this is real – the floods, the droughts, they come and then it’s the cleanup, it’s everything after it.
“It’s not just 12 months afterwards, it’s years.
“…We’re absolutely grateful for everything that has been provided.”
Though the Farm Recovery Event has come and gone, Rural Aid’s Mental Health and Wellbeing team will continue to work with the Peak Hill community.
