A bus-load of uni students is heading our way, embracing the ‘pay it forward’ concept to give the local community a boost with an injection of free labour.
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For its eighth year running, The Big Lift from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is setting themselves across regional NSW and Queensland on a mission to share their volunteering movement across the country. The Big Lift is a student-run volunteer organisation that takes 80 students on a nine-day bus trip through regional Australia to complete various volunteering projects.
It’s Tenterfield’s turn on Wednesday, July 12. Tenterfield High School, Tenterfield Showground and The Sir Henry Parkes Memorial Public School will be helped with painting classrooms, preparing rodeo facilities and gardening.
Another bus will be visiting Tingha to help at two aged care homes with painting, gardening and various cleaning tasks.
The buses arrive in their town in the evening on Tuesday, July 11 and leave the next afternoon.
This will be the Lift’s first visit to Tingha, but some Tenterfield residents may recall an earlier visit to them back in 2013 where the students made their mark at the showground.
“The Big Lift gives students a unique experience to discover how simple, rewarding and fun it is to help out the community,” engineering student and The Big Lift president Inti Hoque said.
“The aim of the trip is to demonstrate the idea that if we all come together for a great cause, real change can be achieved. I’ve seen so many students do great things for their community after being inspired by the volunteering projects they participated in on past trips.
“In a generation that has every potential to become positively connected with the world, The Big Lift plays an essential role in building that sense of community. The Big Lift aims to help create global citizens that are socially conscious and empowered to be a part of things they want to see changed.”
UTS students will depart Sydney on Saturday,July 8 with their trip spanning nine days. The Big Lift is sponsored by the University of Technology Sydney, Activate UTS, Pegasus Coaches and ResMed.
Listen to what the students get out of the endeavour…