A Victorian town’s generous spirit was on display on Christmas Day, as a local cafe hosted a free lunch for those who are struggling to recover from October’s devastating floods.
inundated most houses in the town, ensuring this would be no ordinary Christmas, with many residents forced to leave their ruined homes or stay in caravans on their properties.
She hosted a community lunch at the café last year, but said the need was even greater now with so many Rochester residents’ homes still in disrepair.“We’ve got the facilities to do this, we’ve got the time. So, why wouldn’t we?” Gledhill, an operational volunteer with Rochester’s State Emergency Service unit, threw herself into working at the café even after days spent on the exhausting emergency response.
Nearby, Eliza and Ash Watson are living in a caravan with four children on their Rochester property after the water swept through their home, causing damage that could take up to a year to repair. “I want them to focus on the good things rather than thinking about what they’ve lost,” she said. “I’m trying to show them that bad things happen but if you get support we come back from it.”
The pub was inundated in the previous flood in 2011, and he recently placed a sign in neon lights in the front bar saying “welcome to Shamrock flood bar”.“Second time round I had to put a bit of humour into the joint,” he said.
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