Charity moves into new office

Executive director of the leadership team Matthew Bowden talks at the opening of the new People With Disability Fraser Coast branch office in the Signature building on Torquay Rd.

Alistair Brightman

A DISABILITY advocacy charity christened its new home yesterday after it spent more than a year with no fixed address when it lost everything in the 2011 floods.

People With Disability (PWD) Australia Fraser Coast branch was inundated by floodwaters in the January floods last year alongside three other businesses at the Mary River Marina.

Branch manager Alan Grimsley had removed client files and his laptop from the office before the floods, but lost everything else.

Immediately after the disaster, the advocacy group had to operate out of the boot of Mr Grimsley's car and from his mobile phone.

Yesterday, PWD officially opened its new premises as one of the first tenants in the new Signature office building on Torquay Rd in Hervey Bay and also relaunched its services.

Mr Grimsley had been operating out of donated empty office space from the Department of Community Services in Hervey Bay as they applied for grant after grant to fund the new premises.

"That took a while to start coming in," Mr Grimsley said.

He said the displacement had made the work even harder.

Mr Grimsley had been operating out of donated empty office space