City Country Connect (CCC) was born from a vision of two friends – one from the country and one from the city – 18 months ago.

We were concerned about the continual talk of a city–country divide and wanted to take some action to bride the gap.

We know of the many hardships facing rural families and those on the land. Life in the country for farming families is not only about agriculture but it encompasses traditions and often complex ownership issues.

We knew that we could not do anything about the drought. Where we could make a difference was to ensure rural families didn’t feel they were going it alone, and that the ‘city’ was listening and understood what they were going through.

CCC’s primary focus is to educate city dwellers about rural life and that it is not only about drought and difficult times. Life in the country is also about resilience, community, mateship and history. There are so many colourful characters and people of great strength and vision working in agriculture, which still counts for a large proportion of our Gross Domestic Product.

One or two generations ago, many city people had contacts with the bush through relatives. With the changing shift in our populations those connections have generally disappeared, resulting in lack of knowledge and appreciation of country Australia.

Our second aim is to establish a way of providing opportunities for rural and city people to meet each other through exchanges. We want the organisation to be a ‘two-way street. Through education we can develop an appreciation of each other’s differences and similarities. We strongly believe that it is through the education of our future generations that the ‘divide’ will be addressed.

CCC has two arms. The first is a proposed education program for primary and secondary school students and the other is our Adopt A Town Project.

The school’s program involves learning about the country and city in a fun way coupled with excursions and exploring work opportunities with the older students. We hope to see student exchange programs introduced between city and country areas and open a wider knowledge and skills base for both.

We know that there are connections and student exchanges already established in some country towns, however this program is about universal education and exchanges in ALL schools. Our belief is that if you educate the children you educate the families. We hope this program will dovetail with the Adopt a Town project.

Currently, CCC is working to raise funds for shade sails over the infant section of the mineral pool at Barmedman (near West Wyalong). Like many country towns, Barmedman has unique assets which can attract tourism and draw in surrounding communities which in turn boosts the local economy. The Barmedman mineral pool is an economic and community asset and provides a place where the community can meet which is extremely important particularly in difficult times, such as the current drought.

To date CCC has raised $7,500 and we have $3,000 to go. We believe that these shades, even though a small thing in the larger scheme of things, will not only assist in the social isolation issue by providing a better equipped meeting place, but it will also be a symbol of both city and country working together and
will hopefully raise the morale of the community.

Along with more mental health services in rural areas, we need more CCC projects to demonstrate that the city is listening and is committed to providing opportunities for city and country communities to connect.

Contact Shirley Clay on
Ph: 02 6976 2052 or
Email: clay@westserv.net.au or
Jan Dawkins on
Ph: 02 9585 9350 or
Email: jandawkins@gmail.com