As Accordwest’s annual coat-a-thon comes to an end, the South West organisation is celebrating a new beginning with the arrival of chief executive Nicole Gibbs.
Describing her career so far as immensely diverse, Ms Gibbs said she believed it was her mix of experience in many areas that gave her the ability to look at things objectively.
“I think one of my strengths is understanding what I don’t know and can’t know and what I can learn from people that do know,” she said.
“We’re here to achieve great things for the children and people here that we service.
“Accordwest has a priority of improving our capacity to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people so that we can better assist the incredible Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations of our region.”
An impressive 7314 items were collected this year from Bunbury, Busselton, Harvey and Collie for the coat-a-thon.
More than 3000 coats and jumpers were donated along with 600 blankets and an additional 3700 other items.
“It’s been very successful, the community has been incredibly generous,” Ms Gibbs said.
Coat-a-thon organiser Kris Robertson said they focused on warm blankets and jackets this year with many community members relying on the annual clothes drive.
“It is helping the most disadvantaged in our community,” she said.
