THE Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) has claimed top spot in the 2021 Charity Reputation Index, and few in the north west could begrudge it the title following huge efforts to vaccinate rural communities last year.
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The annual award, which is decided via a mass public survey, showed faith in charities has risen of the past two and a half years, with RFDS coming out on top after boasting a score of 98.1.
It was a massive year for the not-for-profit organisation, which not only carried on with its regular tasks of saving lives in rural areas, but also got involved in the nation's vaccination rollout.
It completed a blitz of north west NSW, with towns like Narrabri relying heavily on their mass vax hubs. Narrabri Shire Council mayor Ron Campbell said RFDS's impact could not be understated.
"They took us from having one of the lowest dosages in the state to one of the highest very quickly, the highest in country NSW," he said.
"We had a major transformation with our vaccine rates, because we were all concerned we were falling behind and we were all concerned we were being left behind in the bush.
"We were trying to arrange things and getting very frustrated and then all of a sudden the RFDS got in touch with me and it all happened very quickly after that."
The affect that had on the town and how it made people feel was hard to describe, he said, especially with the service returning several times.
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Cr Campbell said he couldn't thank them enough, and couldn't think of a more deserving charity to take out the 2021 award.
"It meant the world to us, they're flying angels as far as we were concerned," he said.
"Under these COVID conditions they must be spread far and wide with concerned families and people isolated that they've got to get to fast, not to mention their normal business of helping people.
"But just with COVID it would've added extra pressure so if anyone deserved accolades it was the RDFS, and they're unique to Australia and we can all be very proud of them."
RFDS Federation executive director Frank Quinlan said he was honoured the organisation had come out on top in the rankings, and that it meant a lot to its 2100 staff to see they were held in such high esteem.
The Guide Dogs (94.6), Surf Life Saving Australia (92.9), Foodbank (91.8) and the Starlight Children's Foundation (91.7) rounded out the top five of the index.
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Cody Tsaousis
I'm a news reporter who enjoys covering politics and energy, but I will write about anything for my community. I moved to the New England in 2021 after spending several years in the Upper Hunter.
I'm a news reporter who enjoys covering politics and energy, but I will write about anything for my community. I moved to the New England in 2021 after spending several years in the Upper Hunter.
