Blazeaid volunteers use pub trivia money to rebuild chicken coop for bushfire victim

Many of them lose their drop-in status when they meet people in the community who've lost everything and connect with others volunteering their time to help rebuild.

Staying longer than anticipated was certainly the case for Cobargo camp coordinator Peter Provost, who initially planned to come for three months but said he will now stay until the camp closes.

"I used to be an electrician in WA, but I gave the business to the kids and said see you later," he said.

It was down the Cobargo pub one week at trivia when a table of volunteers and farmers won $350 in the baffler question of the night.

A backpacker who was volunteering at the BlazeAid camp knew the answer to a question no-one else was ready for - "name one of the Backstreet Boys".

"He started jumping out of his skin and we said, 'you really know the answer?' and he said, 'I know them all!' So we let him answer it and we won the money," said volunteer Doug Ivill who semi-retired last year and ditched a job cherry picking after a friend suggested he join Cobargo Blazeaid.

People around the table chipped in a few extra $50 notes and suddenly the group had enough money to build a chicken coop for a woman in Cobargo named Jenny who had lost everything to the fires.

READ MORE: BlazeAid volunteers invaluable to Bega Valley's bushfire recovery

Although her property had originally been priced up for a boundary fence, she simply didn't have the money needed to cover the costs of the materials. She now lives in a caravan on the property.

At first she didn't want the help and had it in her mind that there must have been someone more in need than herself. But she did manage to tell Peter one day that she could really do with a chicken coop.

"She had a chook pen before but everything got burned," said Peter.

Although Doug had never built a fence or a chicken coop before, coming to the camp was a real opportunity to learn a new skill.

Doug, Peter and a couple of the other volunteers took their days off from fencing to get to work on the coop.

"There's a beautiful community and I think it grows on you. People that come through the camp like backpackers and grey nomads and they've all been fantastic.

"It's magical that they're all here for the one reason," said Doug who used to work in Canberra caring for AFP dogs.

READ MORE: 'This is the real Australia' say BlazeAid volunteers

The camp in Cobargo has been set up at the sports ground since January 2020 and since then the teams have completed 184 of the 335 registered properties.

They have cleared 245km of fence lines and 634 volunteers have donated 95,328 hours of their own time to help out.

The coop took them two full days in total and when they were done there were definitely some tears shed.

"They all had a hug and a cry when they left. She was absolutely over the moon just to get something done," said Peter.

"It was really appreciated by her because she's got nothing," said Doug.

Both volunteers said that it's quite enriching and humbling to be able to help people in need, but that they just really love the folks from Cobargo.