Community & Business
11 February, 2026
Tenterfield in line for The Big Lift
Giving Tenterfield a lift
A shout out on a Facebook community site offering free volunteers to spend a day tackling a big project in Tenterfield sounds too good to be true, but true it is. According to the organisation, The Big Lift, a student-run volunteer society from the University of Technology Sydney, is planning a trip to Tenterfield this winter.
The Tenterfield Historical Society, the Tenterfield Railway Station Museum, Angry Bull Trails, Container of Dreams, the proposed Peter Allen Festival and a number of other organisations were quick to put their hand up after a student from The Big Lift posted recently. “Yes, that is indeed a legitimate post!, Amelia Kraszewki, president of The Big Lift, told the Town & Country Journal, sending along the club’s annual report. “Our crew leaders have just started researching and will be reaching out to towns soon to see if there are some volunteering opportunities for The Big Lift in July.”
While a Tenterfield project isn’t cemented in just yet, it is a good possibility. The Big Lift’s flagship annual Winter Trip is run each July during the school holidays, according to the club.
“We invite UTS students from ALL degrees on a road trip to regional communities where help is needed. This one-of-a-kind social initiative takes a total of 80 students, across nine days on two buses to regional communities in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. Starting from Sydney, our aim is to leave lasting and meaningful impacts on the communities we work with through various service projects, such as environmental conservation, general refurbishing and maintenance. These projects are often more hands-on and involve tasks such as painting, gardening, reorganisation of sheds as well as other work. In previous years we have volunteered at schools, community halls and bush regeneration centres just to name a few!”
Cr Kim Rhodes has worked with The Big Lift volunteers in the past and called them “such a great help”.
“I’m so glad to hear residents are excited, we are certainly very excited!” Amelia said, promising that closer to July the organisation would be in touch with further news.
In 2025, 71 participants from The Big Lift visited 16 regional towns, including Wallendbeen, Chiltern, Batlow and Echuca. Students work alongside local communities on hands-on service projects shaped by local needs, including painting, gardening, shed reorganisation, general maintenance, and environmental regeneration. The hope is that the work will strengthen local resilience and support regional populations.
