University students from Sydney were 'paying it forward' when they visited Moree as part of The Big Lift trip.
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The volunteer organisation created by University of Technology Sydney (UTS) students undergoes an annual nine-day trip to regional parts of Australia to complete various volunteering projects.
"What we try and do is we try and get young people engaged in volunteering because quite a lot of young people feel that they want to volunteer but a lot of the time they aren't actually volunteering," The Big Lift communications director Daniel Snell said.
"That might be lack of access or not knowing where to go or just maybe a little bit shy."
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The annual trip takes two busloads of 40 students each to five different regional communities, with this year a stop in Moree organised for the first time in its 10-year history.
The group of students visited Cooee Park on Tuesday, weeding around the middle mosaic area, gardening, painting with children from town and signing a mural.
The Big Lift also partnered with Miyay Birray Youth Service, Moree Family Support, FACS, Moree Plains Shire Council, BAMM, Homes North, Police and Moree Elders Group to bring a fantastic, fun-filled day of activities including a barbecue and jumping castle for the children during the NAIDOC Week celebrations.
"It's been really good," Mr Snell said.
"A lot of the participants are getting to talk to some locals around town. We got a talk from the Indigenous elders last night which was really awesome."
Mr Snell, who is now in his third year on the trip, said it's a great opportunity to for students who have never travelled far outside Sydney and sometimes have preconceptions about small towns to visit these regional communities.
"So they come with some preconceptions and they find that those are kind of challenged on this trip and they see positive community aspect of living in a regional town," he said.
"They learn quite a lot and they get to see it firsthand."
Mr Snell gave a lot of credit to all of the students who put their university break aside and came on the trip.
"Everyone is very kind, very loving and very open to getting to know everybody and learning new things," he said.
"We've got some really, really incredible and smart people here and it's really showing."
The Big Lift is sponsored by UTS, Travelsafe, ResMed, UTS Faculty of Health and UTS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.