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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Gayle Tomlinson

Have a spare room? Here's how you can use it to help fire evacuees

Findabed is connecting those who need to be relocated with a temporary home.

More than 3,500 people across Australia and overseas have volunteered their home, paddocks and properties for fire evacuees.

Set up just five days ago, Find A Bed is a service aimed at helping those displaced by the bushfire crisis and already scores have been relocated and the service is receiving new offers of assistance every minute.

Erin Riley, from Razorback, NSW, set up the service on New Years Eve when she tweeted out that she had paddocks available for anyone in need of relocating their animals. She was overwhelmed by the number of people who also wanted to volunteer their homes and land.

Erin Riley, founder of Findabed

As a PHD student in Community Engagement Erin had the skills to set up a website and now has a team of 40 volunteers helping to run social media and co-ordinate placements.

She said: Findabed is started just five days ago and it's an online database where people can alert people if they have a spare room, holiday home or paddocks. We've had volunteers from all over Australia and all over the world, even New Zealand and Canada."

Findabed helps those stuck due to the bushfires find a place to stay.

If you need to be relocated please contact Findabed on 02 7202 6588.

If you'd like to offer accommodation or paddocks for Findabed please register online here.

Daniel Ferguson, from Snake Valley, has also launched a similar service near Ballarat called Helping Homes.

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