 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
History
Royal Far West Children’s Health Scheme was founded in 1924 by Reverend Stanley Drummond.He had been convalescing at Manly, following surgery to remove his gall bladder, and he thought how wonderful it would be if he could give children from far western NSW the opportunity to have respite from the harsh conditions and enjoy the holiday of a lifetime by the sea.
In the summer of 1925, 58 children from Bourke, Brewarrina and Wilcannia, accompanied by half a dozen mothers, together with Stanley and Lucy Drummond participated in the first camp – they were originally meant to stay at Manly but ended up in Cronulla.
In 1926, the camp was held in Manly, next door to the private hospital of Dr Montcrieff Barron.
It soon became apparent that a considerable number of children required some medical attention so Dr Montcrieff Barron began providing his services in an honorary capacity. This marked the evolution from ‘holiday camp’ to ‘health scheme’.
In 1928, Reverend Drummond, after deciding that he could “work better than he could preach”, resigned his ministry so that he and his wife, Lucy, could be fully committed to the work of the Scheme.
The first permanent site and building of the Scheme, a brick building located at 25 Wentworth Street, Manly, was purchased in 1929 and in 1930, the Department of Education provided the Scheme with a teacher to work with the children – by 1959 it was a whole school.
In 1931, Drummond, with the support of the Commissioner for Railways, commenced the state’s first baby health clinic. Specially fitted out railway cars visited remote locations such as Bourke, Brewarrina, and Byrock where the clinic sisters checked and weighed the babies and gave the mothers advice about their care.
Sid Coleman from Bourke trained as a pilot and had bought an aeroplane for hire and it was arranged for the clinic sister to fly to the more remote centres.
In 1935, Nancy Bird was recruited by Stanley Drummond to fly the clinic sisters to the stations and settlements west of Bourke. In that same year a travelling dental clinic was also established and the Drummond Far West Home was officially opened.
Lucy Drummond died in December 1942 and Stanley Drummond passed away on April 25, 1943 at the age of 58.
The Scheme continued to expand and on April 24, 1959, “Far West Children’s Health Scheme” was incorporated.
In 1970, following a visit by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Anne, the Scheme was officially given the title of “Royal” in recognition of its services to country children.
The scheme expanded into aged care services with the purchase of Austral House Nursing Home in 1983, Ocean View Nursing Home in 1984 and Palm Grove Nursing Home in 1995. In 1997 Drummond House was converted into a low care hostel for aged persons.
In 1995, the Children’s Health Outreach Programme (CHOP) was established in Casino, northern NSW, in partnership with the then Northern Rivers Area Health.
In May 2007 the Board divested the three high care facilities (Austral House, Ocean View and Palm Grove Nursing Homes) in order to refocus on the core purpose of the organisation which is the provision of services that enhance the health and well being of country kids.
Who we are
Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme is a non- government organisation that facilitates access to health services for children from country NSW. Each year, approximately 3,500 children access our services because they are unable to access them in the areas where they live. We also own and operate four aged care facilities.We receive an annual Grant from NSW Health towards the costs of our services. Our other funding is obtained through fundraising, donations and bequests.
OUR VISION:
"Healthy Country Children"
OUR PURPOSE:
To facilitate access to services which enhance the health and well being of
country children.
OUR OBJECTIVES:
To improve access to and throughput of our current services.
To implement new services in the key focus areas of:
- Childhood Obesity
- Mental Health
- Oral Health
- Early Intervention; and
- Indigenous health and well being
We are governed by a volunteer Board that is responsible for determining the strategic direction and corporate strategy for our organisation.
Our current Board Members are:
| Mr G Richard Barron | Chairman |
| Mr Mark S Drummond | Vice Chairman |
| Mr James E M Lloyd | Treasurer |
| Mr John B Pack | |
| Mr Raymond Griffiths | |
| Mr C William (Bill) Supple | |
| Mr Stuart McPherson | |
| Miss Jessie A Punton | |
| Mr Paul B Baker | |
Royal Far West is supported by a network of Branches which are located across NSW. The role of the Branch Members has changed over the years particularly since the introduction of the 'care by parent' philosophy. Today, the main functions of the Branches are service promotion and fundraising. Please call us if you would like the contact details of your closest Branch.
Four of our Branches also operate opportunity shops on our behalf. These are located at Bathurst, Coffs Harbour, Forbes and Port Macquarie.