Need clothes or laundry service after flooding? Help is here

Orange Sky laundry is open in the Presbyterian Church carpark in Harold Street:

The confronting reality of this flood disaster is that some people have lost everything.

An organisation called Thread Together is here to help.

They collect new, excess clothing from designers, manufacturers and retailers - and they've just stocked a Forbes pop up shop with to help those most in need in our community.

Orange Sky has also rolled into town, offering free laundry services from their van adjacent to the Presbyterian Church.

Adam Worling explains Thread Together works with the homeless, refugees, people coming out of domestic violence on a day-to-day basis.

But since the bushfires of 2019 and 2020, they've also hit the ground in communities devastated by natural disaster.

In Forbes, they're working with Roger and Sally Phelps at St John's Anglican Church, and the temporary clothing hub is set up in the church hall - it's a spot that might be familiar to many from Nell's Pantry during the drought.

The Thread Together wardrobe is going to be open midday to 4pm Wednesday to Friday, and the Phelps and volunteers will assist flood-affected residents find what they need.

A Mobile Wardrobe is on its way to Parkes and will - with the Anglican Church - go to surrounding communities including Eugowra.

The team emphasises that they are not here to compete with our local retailers - in fact, it's more important than ever we support local business also very much impacted by this flooding.

They're here to help those who have lost everything and whose funds and resources need to be directed into other essentials at this time.

They have underwear, socks and a pair of boots to get you going, but they'll be here for the slightly longer term too, because recovery takes time.

They've been working with those devastated by flooding since March this year: they were on the ground in Lismore within 10 days and stayed for five months - distributing more than 450,000 units of clothing.

They've just worked with retailers to dress more than 40 Year 12 students in Lismore for their school formal, students who just weren't thinking they could go because they didn't have anything suitable to wear.