Members of the community, Grenfell Multi Purpose Service (MPS), and Weddin Health Council representatives hosted an afternoon tea Wednesday, 9 November to honour Kathy Bandy and her generous $3 million bequest.

A photograph and plaque dedicated to Mrs Bandy was also unveiled at the entrance to the aged care wing.

The afternoon tea also celebrated the unveiling of the brand new floors which were funded by a portion of the bequest.

The MPS received the bequest from Mrs Bandy’s estate in late 2023 and was paid to the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) with the directions it be used “for the general benefit of the Grenfell MPS”. The directions of the late Mrs Bandy also stated that the Local Health District “take guidance from the Weddin Health Council when distributing funds from the bequest”.

The late Mrs Bandy was a former resident of the Grenfell MPS and wanted to ensure the good work of the service continued in the local community.

Grenfell MPS’ Pauline Rowston said it was really important they they honoured Mrs Bandy as they were very happy that she left some money for the Grenfell Multi Purpose Service.

Ms Rowston said things in health don’t happen very quickly, but they were able to spend some of the money to refurbish the entire floor of the aged care facility.

The old carpet was replaced with linoleum which, while a little noisier, is a lot lighter than the older carpets and is easier to keep clean.

Ms Rowston said they are very, very thankful to Kath and her bequest that they were able to do this.

The MPS has also undertaken some other work installing some skylights, a portion of which was paid for using the bequest, as well as some insurance due to the hail damage the building received during a hailstorm around Christmas of 2023.

Ms Rowston said they are also working on retrofitting heater lights in all of the ensuites, and they were lucky enough to get some other funding to purchase new lounge chairs, side tables an bookcases to just modernise the facility.

Looking forward, Ms Rowston said the next projects they are considering working on includes a new coat of paint for the aged care facility, as well as the installation of automatic doors from the patient dining and lounge area to the courtyard which will help improve access.

“It’s been lovely to just have the bequest so that we’ve now got the capacity to look around us and say what can we do there and when can we do it,” she said.

Weddin Health Council’s Peter Moffitt said looking forward, they are reluctant to spend a lot of money from the bequest, until they get some commitment from both the State and Federal governments as to what plans there are in place for the redevelopment of the Grenfell Hospital and MPS.

Mr Moffitt said said when they know what is happening they will be able to make some more definitive plans on how to spend this valuable bequest from Mrs Bandy that would satisfy members of the community and staff who use the Grenfell MPS.