CHILDREN with a disability living in remote and rural areas will have better access to support services following a funding announcement by the NSW State Government.
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Member for Bathurst, Paul Toole, announced a grant funding of $1.339 million for the Royal Far West to help them expand its NDIS services.
Mr Toole said Royal Far West was a not-for-profit organisation based in Manly and provided development and capacity building programs for children and their families living in regional NSW.
“I’m delighted Royal Far West is one of just 10 businesses across NSW that secured a grant from the NSW Government’s $19 million Disability Sector Scale-Up program to help them make the most of NDIS rollout,” Mr Toole said.
“Royal Far West is already doing great work in the disability space and this grant will help them expand and enhance their capacity to support and improve the quality of life for people with a disability all over NSW.”
Royal Far West Health Director Katherine Burchfield say Royal Far West established its award-winning Windmill Program back in 2015 and said the grant will see the program expand to better respond to the needs of Aboriginal families and rural and remote communities across the state.
Eight-year-old Charlotte Taylor, who was diagnosed with Autism Level One, is one student using the program, with amazing results.
Both Charlotte and her mum Annette Taylor said the program had made an incredible difference not only for Charlotte but also her family.
“Now we can see the signs and have strategies in place to prevent the meltdowns,” Mrs Taylor said adding Charlotte had also been doing better at school with the help of the program.
Mrs Taylor said the funding will mean more kids like Charlotte will be able to access the program.
“It will mean there are more therapists [to assist]. At the moment I think they are only seeing maybe three, four or five kids a week, this funding will triple that.
“It means the program will be far more accessible which is great because there are so many kids out there who can’t access what’s available,” she said.