We are very happy with the experience, and are very impressed by the culture at the patient interface.  

Bega District News (and the local member Andrew Constance) report difficulties, but the doctors, nurses and support teams manage to deliver a great experience every time, even when they are really busy and especially when dealing with emergencies.  

Maybe Andrew could focus on ensuring there is sufficient funding to deal with emergencies so that the team can continue to excel, even under duress.

Homeless Person’s Week runs from August 7-13. Currently there are over 105,000 homeless people in Australia, 44,000 of which are under the age of 25. Homeless Person’s Week aims to raise awareness for those doing it tough.

One in five homeless people seeking assistance are being turned away from vital, emergency accommodation services.  In modern Australia, these statistics are alarming and there is a lot of work to be done to fix this.  

People often only see homelessness as those sleeping and begging on the streets, but we need to ensure that our invisible homeless people are taken care of. 

Homelessness is all around us. People who are forced to couch surf, sleep in cars or those who just don’t have a home to return to every night are the invisible homeless. It is often convenient for us to forget or ignore them but these people need our help.

Now in its fourth year, our campaign #laceitup aims to bring awareness and funds to fight homelessness. Purchasing these laces and wearing them during homeless person’s week reminds us that taking off our shoes is a luxury.

Many homeless young people need to leave their shoes on in case they have to flee for safety and to stop thieves from taking their shoes.

This Homeless Person’s Week I implore everyone to stop and consider not only homeless Australians sleeping rough on the streets, but to think about how we can also help our invisible homeless.

Homelessness is a nationwide issue and only by working together can we tackle this concerning issue.

Every dog is unique, whether it be their looks or their personality, so we thought you may want to learn a little bit more about the Bega Valley’s new prized pooches. 

The winners of the Bega Valley’s Best Dog Photo Competition gathered on Thursday, July 27, at Short Point, Merimbula (see photo above). 

While there, competition organiser Natalie Martin-Remmert announced the winners and presented the prizes, taking the time to shake every owners’ hand and every dogs' paw. 

Each winner was given a personalised trophy thanks to Merimbula Engraving and Trophies as well as dog wash vouches from Pet Barn Mobile Dog Wash Sapphire Coast. 

But of course the best prize of all was the bragging rights now associated with knowing each of these owners has one of the best dogs (from a photography point of view) in the Bega Valley. 

Once the awards were presented, Ms Martin-Remmert spent a bit of time with each dog and each owner to learn a little bit more about these cute canines. 

While each dog and each owner has a different story to tell, one thing that they all agreed on was that there should be another dog competition next year. What do you think?