Sylo Café has reopened its doors, welcoming its first customers on Wednesday from 7am.
Espresso aromas are now filling the refurbished Sylo building at 23-25 Rankin Street.
The café is CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes’ third social enterprise, its purpose is to have a real and positive impact for individuals and the community as a whole, as it serves quality food and beverages.
It will have a focus of employing local people who have not had access to work or training opportunities previously and every dollar spent at Sylo will be used to create jobs or address social issues in the community.
Similar CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes initiatives including Cooee for Coffee Wilcannia and Cooee for Coffee Bourke have helped recruits turn their lives around.
“Sylo Café continues our innovative work to deliver awesome coffee with an awesome story,”
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes chief executive officer Anne-Marie Mioche said.
Western NSW has high levels of disadvantage and often lacks job opportunities, which is why
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes has established the Cooee social enterprises.
“We might start with someone who doesn’t have a resume, has no work experience, and they can move quite quickly to being able to work in the hospitality industry, or also being able to get a job with us in our social services,” Ms Mioche said.
Sylo’s opening is the result of months of work, including giving a building that had been unused for some years an extensive makeover.
“We are thrilled to make this amazing space in the centre of Forbes the home of our third Cooee social enterprise,” Ms Mioche said.
Ms Mioche says “we have a great team and they are excited to be opening the doors to the public”.
“The menu is all about fresh and delicious food and the Sylo space has a great vibe,” she said.
Sylo is open from 7am to 3pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and 7am to midday on Saturdays and Sundays.

Excitement is building at Forbes ahead of the opening of Sylo as the town’s first social enterprise café on July 6.
The sound of the espresso machine will soon be heard at the CBD landmark thanks to a CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes initiative to meet community need.
As a social enterprise café, Sylo’s purpose is to provide training and real jobs for community members and clients, while serving quality food and beverages.
Its vision is for recruits to gain skills, qualifications and experience as they build careers and economic security.
Sylo will mark the third social enterprise café of CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes, which operates Cooee for Coffee at Wilcannia and Bourke.
The venture’s launch will also bring activity back to a Forbes building loved by local people but unused for years.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes social enterprise manager Toni Hanns says the community is embracing the new concept for the space.
“Every day someone says ‘when’s it opening, when’s it opening, when’s it opening,” she said.
The Rankin Street jewel has been receiving a makeover in the lead-up to its new chapter.
The chocolate brown paint from its former use as a night-time bar has been replaced with an “airy, fresh” look, Mrs Hanns said.
Local trades have been involved in the works.
The café team attributes the community excitement to Sylo’s “vibe”.
“It’s got space, it’s got a great feeling, and I think the community is busting to have it open again, because it was just sitting there asleep for five years, and it
was such a waste,” Mrs Hanns said.
“It’s getting a new lease of life and I just think that’s good for our town.”
Sylo will open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 7am to 3pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 7am to midday.

The mission to improve mental health and end stigma will step up at Parkes, Forbes, Orange and Bathurst this month.
Community members are invited to CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes’s mental health expos in the four locations.
Actor and mental health champion Sam Webb will give a special guest talk at each of the free events.
Webb co-founded mental health charity LIVIN in 2013 after the death of a good friend to suicide.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes mental health programs manager Kate Shambrook is inviting schools, parents, carers, students and other community members to come along to the expos.
She said a highlight will be the talk by Webb, who is also known for his appearances in Home and Away, Neighbours and Australian Survivor.
“We’re thrilled that Sam Webb has come on board,” Ms Shambrook said.
“He is committed to helping people and organisations understand the importance of mental health and making wellness a priority.
“We think the community will gain a lot from his talk.”
Representatives from mental health support providers will also be at the events for community members to meet and talk to.
“The mental health expo is a great chance to access a range of resources to focus on an area of health that can often be overlooked,” Ms Shambrook said.
“Mental health as an issue is growing in communities, especially in young people and it is an area of concern.
“This event is so important to increasing the community’s knowledge and understanding, and its capacity to support people’s well-being.”
The mental health expos will take place at:
• Parkes Services Club on Monday June 20, 11.30am-1.30pm.
• Forbes High School Hall on Tuesday June 21, 11.30am-1.30pm
• Orange Function Centre on Wednesday June 22, 9.30am-12.30pm
• Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre on Wednesday June 22, 12.30pm- 3.30pm
It is free to attend, but people are asked to register through Eventbrite.

Fresh haircuts and a safe space to talk have come to the heart of far-western NSW, thanks to a partnership between CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes and Walkabout Barber.
The two organisations teamed up to put on events at Menindee, Broken Hill, Wilcannia, Cobar and Narromine from May 9 to 13.
At each location, the Walkabout Barber and Walkabout Beautiful bus, which is fitted out as a mobile salon, provided professional hairdressing and beauty services.
Launched and led by Brian Dowd, Walkabout Barber not only provides trims and treatments but also trauma and recovery workshops to equip individuals and communities.
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes sponsored the tour, and Jane Kemp, the organisation’s executive leader of Aboriginal strategic development said it had been a successful initiative.
Ms Kemp said community members had embraced the events, with the 60 barber and 60 beauty appointments available each day easily filled.
Attendees were able to chat with Brian and his team of three barbers and two beauty therapists.
“Walking in the bus while clients were having cuts, the conversations were relaxed, honest and rewarding,” Ms Kemp said.
“Young men talking about friends they have lost to suicide, their future and what they want out of their life.
“Men and boys smiling up, looking real neat with their new haircuts.
“Primary school boys showing off the patterns in their hair, real proud.
“Young girls having their eyebrows waxed or tinted for the first time.
“The conversations happening in the bus allowing people to speak and ask for help if they need it.
“Brian sharing his story of how he had a very promising future in football, how that changed, how he hit rock bottom and how he turned his life around.
“Being amongst a group of teenage boys who sit there quietly and listen to his story – that’s priceless, especially if that young boy knows he can ask for help if he needs to.”
Brian said it had been a fantastic week, connecting with community and having amazing conversations.
“Seeing young people come through and get a haircut, and just the smile on their face, even if it’s for that moment, for that day, for that week, they feel good about themselves,” he said.
“They’re confident, their head’s held high, their shoulders are straight back, and you can see the difference, walking in and walking out.”

Robert Sloane from Condobolin wins the 2021 Aboriginal Art Competition.

CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes has announced the winners of its Aboriginal Art Competition for 2021.
“We were spoiled for choice this year with so many interesting paintings submitted. Many with very special stories and meanings from these amazing emerging artists,” CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes CEO, AnneMarie Mioche said.
This year’s judges were Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green, CEO Anne-Marie Mioche and 2019 winner and artist Raymond Thorpe.
“We (the judges) were all very impressed with the calibre and variety of paintings entered.”
“The winning painting is called Mirri (dragonfly) it is a very detailed painting by Condobolin artist Robert Sloane,” Ms Mioche said.
Equal second place was awarded to Maddison Hull with her painting Home and Jason Hudson with his painting Working Together, Connecting Country.
“It was a really difficult decision to between second and third place so we awarded two equal second prizes and both received $1500 prizes,” Ms Mioche said.
We know there is so much talent in this area and it is really wonderful to see the work and celebrate the artists. This was CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes’ second Aboriginal Art competition and artists from throughout the diocese were invited to submit a contemporary or traditional painting on any subject.
Many of the paintings incorporated traditional and contemporary techniques and judge Raymond Thorpe said many entries were technically very good.
The winning artworks will now feature commercially in CatholicCare branding and promotional material.
FIRST PRIZE: Mirri (dragonfly) by Robert Sloane, Condobolin. EQUAL SECOND PRIZE: Working Together, Connecting Country by Jason Hudson from Narromine and Home by Maddison Hull from Parkes.

DEMAND HIGH FOR SOCIAL SERVICES
CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes has had a 42 per cent increase in demand for its services since the declaration of the Coronovirus Covid-19 pandemic.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how quickly our team adapted to make sure support and services were still being delivered at a time when our many communities needed us most,” CatholicCare WIlcannia-Forbes CEO, Anne-Marie Mioche said.
“Not only are we open for business, but these figures of engagement confirm we have had to increase our capacity as people have been very quick to connect with us for the support and service we are renowned for providing.”
“Our team responded quickly and proactively and implemented really engaging new ways of supporting our clients through phone support, web based interactions, video conferencing, social media, online help, in home resource packs and more,” Ms Mioche said.
It seems our 25 years of experience delivering services to some of the most remote and isolated communities in NSW has proved to be the perfect preparation to keep offering much needed social services to our vulnerable communities during the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our organisation was started in a time of serious drought, to address stress and depression in what is considered the poorest diocese in Australia. We continue to meet these needs by providing a range of parenting and family services, playgroups, housing, domestic and family violence, financial counselling and mental health support from 14 offices and outreach centres covering 52% of NSW.
Due to our team being located remotely, we already had excellent remote communication and planning capabilities and our team were able to transition very quickly from face to face services to providing support and assistance in alternative means.
The innovation and genuine positive problem solving is an absolute credit to our amazing and resilient team members we have who are out facing some community’s largest and hardest issues.
Like all business and charities we have closely monitored the impact Coronavirus would have on our levels of service delivery and volumes of clients. This chart below shows a comparison between client attendance in April 2019 and April 2020.

Based on this simple comparison we discovered many of our programs have recorded a considerable spike, if not doubled, the service and client levels in 2020.

CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes CEO, Anne-Marie-Mioche is appealing to government and other support agencies to remember those still impacted by drought.
“The bushfires have been disastrous and as a nation we held our breath at the threat and tragedy but we must not forget about the long slow burn of devastation still being caused by the drought which has crippled much of eastern Australia,” Ms Mioche said.
“December had the lowest rainfall on record for Australia and we still have people in our diocese – which covers 52 per cent of NSW – who missed out on rain this week, continuing to severely limit water resources, soil moisture and any hope of a crop or livelihood for 2020.”
“The impacts on our rural and remote communities is dire, we need help,” Ms Mioche pleaded.
It is wonderful to see a positive and fast response by the Australian Government committing $76 million to mental health and trauma informed care for bushfire affected areas, however only $6.3million has been committed over two years for mental health and counselling in drought affected areas.
“We are trying our very best to help meet the increasing needs for our communities. We support families, parents and children, relationships, financial counselling, domestic violence, homelessness, youth as well as our indigenous communities – all areas of need escalating as the tyranny of drought cripples our rural and remote communities,” Ms Mioche said.
As we enter our fourth year of drought, for some areas, rural economies are continuing to decline, basic resources are almost non existent and the social impacts are heartbreaking.

CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes Men’s Workers will be hosting a night just for men on Monday, November 18 at the Holy Family School in Parkes.
The International Men’s Day Celebration will begin with a sausage sizzle at 6pm, then the inspirational film Courageous will be shown, followed by an open discussion Talking About Men.
Men’s Support Team Leader, Andrew Bament, invited all men to come along and take part in a night.
“In line with the objectives of International Men’s Day, which is celebrated in more than 80 countries around the world, we are looking at valuing our male role models, acknowledging the contribution of men and boys, improving male health, tackling discrimination and disadvantage, fostering positive gender relations and making the world a safer place for everyone,” Mr Bament said.
“We have planned this event and are acknowledging the day as an opportunity to highlight key social issues which impact on men and boys around the world,” he added.
In Australia:
• Three out of every four suicides are men
• Men die six years younger than women on average
• Boys underperform at every stage of education
• Dad’s who want to be more involved in their children’s lives may face a range of barriers.
The night will be hosted by Men’s Workers Michael Browne and Colin Cartwright and is being supported by Holy Family, Parkes, Principal Nick Baird.
International Men’s Day is Tuesday, November 19 in Australia.

CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes has secured NSW Government funding to conduct a series of positive workshops and events to raise awareness of and tackle problem gambling as poker machine revenue is predicted to soar to $9 billion a year by 2029 in NSW.
These free events will be held in Dubbo, Broken Hill, Cobar and Bourke from Monday, September 23 to Friday, September 27 to support Responsible Gambling Week. The funding has been made available by the NSW Government Office of Responsible Gambling – an initiative to encourage local communities to learn more about responsible gambling and to start meaningful conversations with those around them.
According to statistics from Liquor and Gaming NSW, almost $38 million was lost on poker machines in the Dubbo Regional Council Area alone last year. This figure increasing from 2017 despite being less poker machines in the region. In Broken Hill gaming machines have generated $14 million in profit.
“We are facing a social disaster if these trends continue to grow as predicted and so CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes is hosting a series of community events to help people change focus, reengage in the community and with their families,” Financial Counselling and Capability Team Leader, Louise Cormie said.
“These workshops and community barbecue are all about families. We hope to raise awareness in a positive and empowering way to and help people open up to some healthier life choices, physically and financially,” Mrs Cormie added.
“We are encouraging everyone to #checkin on their own gambling or with friends and family to identify risks, safety tips and healthy alternatives.
We have some really exciting giveaways including a fitbit, monthly swim pass, phone accessories and butcher’s vouchers.
“We hope everyone can join us,” Mrs Cormie added.

Following the success of the CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes Women’s Gathering held in Forbes on March 28, organisers are taking it on the road to host similar events in Parkes, Condobolin, Peak Hill and again in Forbes.

Wendy McMaugh, a CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes support worker said the response was overwhelmingly positive to the first event which was attended by around 40 women and featured several speakers addressing health, legal and practical life solutions.
“The feedback from our first gathering was phenomenal. It was an informative and positive day with many people pleased to hear from other women and mums with similar experiences,” Ms McMaugh said.
“Women’s lives are busy, so we are inviting all women to just stop for a couple of hours, enjoy a nice lunch and be inspired by our amazing guest speakers,” she added.
Guest speaker Anny Druett will be speaking at all the venues with a local guest speaker to also feature at each event.
Anny Druett is a well recognised speaker, trainer and coach. Anny is a descendent of the Ngema mob and a granddaughter of Peal Mary (Gambanyi) Gibbs.
“My Nanna had a huge influence on my life. Pearl was a maverick, she was one of those women who was well before her time,” Ms Druett said.
Pearl Gibbs helped plan the 1938 Day of Mourning on Australia Day and set up the Aboriginal Australian fellowship in the early 1950s, an early petition for Indigenous rights. She was the first and only woman to sit on the Aborigine’s Welfare Board and established an hostel in Dubbo for Aboriginal people needing medical treatment. Pearl had her three children taken from her when her marriage to English born naval steward, Robert James Gibbs, broke up. She was one of the driving forces behind the 1967 referendum when Australians voted overwhelmingly to include Aboriginal people in the census and to allow the Commonwealth to create laws for them.
“There is strength in women coming together – we support, empower and foster positive community relationships for all women. This in turn has longer term benefits for overall wellness and improved family outcomes and our community,” Ms McMaugh said.
“Following our first women’s gathering in March, people have been asking when we will do it again and now, we are. The day has been made possible through funds from the Manage Your Income Program which assists women in all financial matters. Through MYI women gain knowledge and confidence can work towards a life with less or no financial stress, a better future for their families.
The MYI program will also be offering a FREE service to obtain a birth certificate for those who need them and attend on the day.