Volunteers are travelling outback and picking up tools, paintbrushes and scrubbing brushes to assist with the vital upkeep of Frontier Services buildings across the country.

A Work Party consisting of 12 people from across Queensland, NSW and Victoria has met in Charleville for a two-week stint to complete vital jobs at a number of the services based in the town.

They have painted walls, repaired ceilings, replaced doors, relocated a clothes line, removed mould, moved a garden shed and ticked off countless other jobs over the past week.

Each year, a number of Work Parties are sent out to various locations where Frontier Services is based to assist with the huge job of maintaining the buildings and properties used by the services.

Frontier Services Work Party Coordinator Gordon Hill said the volunteers signed up because they wanted to make a difference, particularly for people in remote areas.

“It is particularly rewarding to help out the Frontier Services staff – they are the ones supporting people in the community and so we are helping them.”

“It can be very hard to find people to do these sorts of jobs, particularly in the remote areas we go to, so the contribution of the Work Party volunteers is very significant.”

The team in Charleville has been hard at work every day. Their list of jobs included laying pavers at the Charleville Early Learning Centre over an area that is subject to flooding. They have also been completing repairs, painting and cleaning in the office of Outback Links and the Remote Area Families Service as well as the manse for the Burke and Wills Patrol Minister John Case.

While there has been lots of work to do, Mr Hill said everyone was having a great time. The volunteers include couples and single people and some who are volunteering for the first time with a Work Party.

There is also a Work Party stationed in Andamooka in South Australia this week. In the next two weeks, some of the volunteers in Charleville will head north to Emerald to meet a new team for their next assignment.

If you are interested in becoming a Work Party volunteer, you can contact Gordon Hill on 02 6836 3002 or email cobill@bigpond.net.au