A small group of eight volunteers in Cobargo are addressing two of the town's less publicised needs - its youth and the town's environs which need revegetating.
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Tania Lingard, co-founder of Cobargo Green Recovery, said before the Black Summer bushfires she and other volunteers were doing regeneration work around the town funded by small environmental grants from Bega Valley Shire Council.
She was involved in another group of volunteers that worked on a skate park and BMX track.
"So when the bushfires hit, we decided to join forces to form Cobargo Green Recovery. That was June 2020," Ms Lingard said.
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Run by youth, for youth
The group received Bushfire Community Resilience and Recovery funding for the Triangle Youth Project at the skate park which included running three youth groups.
"All the adults seemed to get help but not the kids.
"Especially after COVID, they weren't going to school so we wanted something to bring the kids together, have fun and also teach them about resilience and up-cycling," Ms Lingard said.
For example at the second event in October 2022 Sydney Royal Botanic Garden's Darren Martin taught the kids about bush tucker and planting.
They employed two locals as junior event managers who were mentored by an experienced event manager.
They are working on the final event that will be held on March 11.
It will be run by Totem Skateboarding, one of Australia's largest and longest running skate event companies.
The rest of the funds are being used to build basketball and netball courts at the skate park with work due to start mid-March.
Revegetation
The volunteers are also re-greening Cobargo.
In November 2020 they held an "Out of the Fires Plant Give Away Day" supported by Canberra's Western Creek Rotary which donated "heaps" of plants they had grown during COVID.
More than 750 people came through the gate to "take plants home and replace what they had lost", Ms Lingard said.
In December they helped landscape the RSL Memorial Hall.
In October 2021 they received 1300 mature native plants that were no longer wanted after being used at a major tourism event in Sydney.
The latest planting was late last year after the new Murrabrine bridge was completed.
In partnership with BVSC and Transport for NSW, council supplied 900 natives that volunteers planted on the southern side of the bridge and highway side of the Wandela side.
Another planting around the bridge is planned on March 25.
Ms Lingard has been volunteering for more than half her life.
"I just love getting people together and planting plants and feeling better about the community.
"It all helps you recover."
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