Bunbury named the most compassionate town ‘in the whole of Australia’

Favourite Bunbury daughter and Sunrise host Natalie Barr has spruiked her hometown on national TV, reporting Bunbury has been named the most compassionate town “in the whole of Australia”. The award comes from Compassionate Connectors — a group of volunteers who provide support to people in the community doing it tough, especially those battling illness. A representative from the group, Toni Jacobsen, appeared on Sunrise this week with Bunbury mayor Jaysen Miguel. “We are given a client or clients and our aim then is to find ways in the community that we can be supportive,” Ms Jacobsen said. “For some people it might be that they’re frail or they might be lonely or might be living in communities where there is no other support, so we work with them to get as much support as we can using the community as a backstop.” Cr Miguel said he was proud of his local community and the volunteers that assist others around town. “You’re from here Nat so you know what the people down here are like,” he said. “There’s a great community and (I’m) very, very proud to be sort of recognised for that.” Cr Miguel said he backs calls for the Compassionate Connectors program to be rolled out across the country. “There’s a lot of people out there that need support in (difficult) times and the whole community have got to get behind it to do that,” he said. “Obviously we have some amazing volunteers, but getting businesses and getting local governments and State governments involved is going to be pretty (important) to do that”. Having her home town named as the most compassionate was a spot of honour for Barr. “We sit here and we do some pretty tough stories some mornings and to have a community like Bunbury leading the way as some of the most compassionate in the whole country, this is what we need,” she said.