The iconic Royal Far West (RFW) turns 100 this week and no one is clapping more loudly than Chairperson Joan Treweeke of Angledool.

An Australian National Charity, the Royal Far West has spent 100 years improving the health and wellbeing of remote and rural children and Joan has been an integral part of its organisation in recent years. 

Joan who has been chairperson of the charity for five years, joined the board in 2014, has been a long-time supporter through her involvement with School of the Air, ICPA, and Royal Flying Doctor Service, and her invaluable work with and for kids in the bush.

“The Royal Far West is simply an amazing charity. The work that has been done completely by volunteers, is outstanding and the lives it has touched are immeasurable. So often when I am somewhere, someone will come up and start telling me about their experience and how it changed their life or the life of a loved one, it is so lovely to hear and makes us all happy,” said Mrs Treweeke.

Royal Far West Chairperson Joan Treweeke - Image RFW

“I first became involved through School of the Air. We got to hear and sometimes see all the kids in the region, and we soon realised that some children needed medical help in one way or another.

“Coming from the city and a medical family, I knew what services the city children had access to and soon understood the country kids did not have equitable services out here, so I wanted to pitch in and help. It was a great cry from the bush, where do we go, how do we help our children.

“Unfortunately, things have gotten worse in the country for children to access medical care and this makes the services of RFW so valuable. For instance, previously Dubbo had five Paediatricians now they only have two, and they only deal with medical issues not developmental issues, which means children must travel even further to get help.

“Our Board consists of a group of people who merge all their talents to work together, we have medical people with expansive backgrounds, dentists, allied health workers businesspeople, media people, who all say they want to give back and support a good cause, their generosity knows no ends.”

The charity came about with the foresight of Reverend Stanley Drummond, a Cobar based Minister, who was recuperating on Manly Beach, who had a vision of bringing country kids to the beach for respite, which quickly became a reality with camps for country children.

“To think that the original idea 100 years ago to help country kids live a healthy, productive life has progressed to what it is today though dedication, hard work and technology, is a credit to the many volunteers over the years that have made it all happen,” said Mrs Treweeke.

Image courtesy Royal Far West

With big celebrations planned for today (Thursday 5 December), the volunteers and their supporters and local community members will take to Manly beach, where it all began, for a get together focusing on the wonderful work of the last 100 years.

Today the charity encompasses the whole of Australia with an estimated 190,000 children across rural and remote Australia that need developmental and mental health support to help them get on track and stay on track.

Royal Far West has grown into a specialist child development service that today provides developmental, mental health and disability support for children aged up to 12 and those around the child – parents, carers, educators and health professionals.

Its innovative services support country children across four states (NSW, QLD, WA & VIC), 364 communities and 211 schools and early childhood centres from its Centre for Country Kids in Manly, via virtual care or on in-community visits by a multidisciplinary team of paediatric clinicians.

Royal Far West’s CEO, Jacqueline Emery, said, “Royal Far West has always been a beacon of hope in the bush. We go where the gaps are to ensure that every child has access to high-quality healthcare and support, regardless of where they live.

"From our humble beginnings, we've transformed into a specialist child development service, utilising innovative services and technology, to bridge the gap and bring essential health services to children in remote areas.”

One Western area patient who was given access to the service said, “It changed my life in so many ways and I will be forever grateful.”