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H et is niemand ontgaan dat er in Australië al weken hevige bosbranden woeden, die met een verwoestende kracht om zich heen grijpen. De verhalen van onze partners zijn hartverscheurend en ook Talisman biedt graag hulp. Onze partner Alquemie houdt ons goed op de hoogte: Nicola Billens heeft zich opgegeven bij de vrijwillige brandweer en monitort de situatie nauwkeurig. Lees hieronder haar laatste update.

'We are heartbroken by what has happened and grateful to all the tireless people who have been working so hard to protect our beautiful environment and communities'

By now you will have heard about the bushfires that have been impacting parts of Australia. We are heartbroken by what has happened and grateful to all the tireless people who have been working so hard to protect our beautiful environment and communities. In some ways, the fires have brought out the best in humanity and it is so heartwarming to see everyone coming together at this difficult time.

If you would like to donate to help victims of the fires, below are some organisations that we recommend:

Help wildlife
WIRES (Wildlife Rescue and Education Service)
Mogo Zoo
Port Macquarie Koala Hospital
Wildlife Walkabout Park
Kangaroo Island Mayor’s Bushfire Appeal
Wildlife Resuce South Coast
Native Wildife Rescue

Help people
Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief
St Vincents de Paul
Salvation Army

We have donated to both the Red Cross and the Wildlife Walkabout Park (see the video I took in November when I visited - they were training the animals to follow to safety in case of fire - thankfully they were all fine after a fire came close).

If you have any questions or doubts regarding traveling to Australia due to the fires, please speak to your travel designer at Talisman.
 
Kind regards,

Nicola Billens
Sales & Marketing Manager
Alquemie

P.S.
Last May I joined as a volunteer with the NSW Rural Fire Service, unknowing of the horror fire season that was to come. Where I live 90 minutes north of Sydney is surrounded by stunning coastal bush and I wanted to be able to help protect it should a fire start.

I have been training all year and only just qualified on December 7th. I fought my first bushfire on New Year's Day in an area further north. The top image is from that day. We were doing what is called a 'back burn' or fighting fire with fire by burning an area safely so that when the bigger fire comes along, there is no 'fuel' to keep it burning. It was a little scary and very smoky at times but together with 160 other volunteer fire fighters we managed to save 278 houses and contain the fire.