NARROMINE LIFE Les Lambert: Narromine councillor, aged care worker

Did you grow up in Narromine?

We were born and bred in the west in Wilcannia. We still have rellies at Broken Hill and Cobar too. The only time you go is funerals. The last one we went to we had to stay in Cobar for the funeral at Wilcannia because the extended family had booked out all the accommodation. That was when my grandmother died in 2004 and there were nearly 200 direct descendants. She had 12 kids.

How long have you been in Narromine?

we used to go to Trangie and pick some people up in our bus and then we’d do an outing, so I’d always try to get some extra copies of Photo News that Thursday before the Trangie trip (to share with those people). I’d take them with me so they could have some copies of the paper out there. Some of the oldies say they can’t live without them. There are other self-care facilities and I drop the paper to all of them. They’re not housebound but they’re not social butterflies either. I talk to them every Thursday and dropping in with the paper is a way I can check on them as well.

I drop them at Timbrebongie House too, which is our resident aged care facility in Narromine; I also drop papers to the hospital for staff and clients, the council and the credit union and doctor’s surgery. I try to spread them around where people are, sometimes to the club or the library. You feel where you need to put them. You’re also a councillor? My other role is in local government as councillor. I’m going on to my 19th year. I was elected in 1999. I’ve had stints as deputy mayor and mayor. Now I’m “just” a councillor.

– Interview & photo by Darcee Nixon

I came to Narromine in ’88, in the bicentennial year. I came to teach primary school at St Augustine’s. In my 16 years of teaching the only class I never taught was kindergarten. The most exhilarating thing is to see a Year 1 child click with reading.You are a Dubbo Photo News “delivery hero”. How do you incorporate your deliveries with your aged care work? As part of the community health work that I do,