Hundreds of residents in a Tamworth suburb without a community centre, gathered for a day of entertainment and a rare opportunity to easily access city-based services.
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The 'One Stop Shop' held on the field at Oxley Vale Primary School on Wednesday, October 18, included at least 30 stallholders, such as Homes North, Centacare, NDIS, Multicultural Tamworth and a range of other family and health support services.
The school's aboriginal liaison officer Rebecca Browning, who organised the event, said Oxley Vale needs a community centre to cater for people impacted by drugs, alcohol and other issues.
"They don't particularly want to come into a school where there are children and ask for the services they might need. So, a community centre is a big need out this way," Ms Browning said.
"And we also have to be very careful about who we can bring in [to the school]. We try to use it [the school] as a meeting place as much as possible, we invite services in, but we have to protect our children."
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Ms Browning said there are a number of broken families in Oxley Vale and that transport is an issue for many who are unable to access services in the Tamworth CBD.
"And COVID really destroyed a lot of our community out this way," Ms Browning said.
The 'One Stop Shop' event was an attempt to "bring people back, get them outside, get them connected," Ms Browning said, "whether it's just to make a friend or find a service to support them".
Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) councillor Mark Rodda said the "council had really dropped the ball on this one", and supported the school's effort for a community centre.
However, he said the issue would be about finding a centralised spot for the community centre so it doesn't go underutilised, and funding that would have to either come from state or federal grant money.
About 40 per cent of Oxley Vale Primary's enrolled children are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, with a further 60pc hailing from at least 22 nationalities across the world.
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