Our Brief History
The network of volunteers (that became Peters Care) was founded in 2006 by Simon McCann. Farmers had become more debt-laden, problems were emerging with farmers’ cash flows, and farmers were not sufficiently able to deal with banks and the farm debt. By 2008 the global financial crisis had struck. As the global financial crisis struck, so did the level of calls from farmers indicating severe financial circumstances. The level of calls from farmers seeking help elevated from around 1-5 per month, to around 2-5 per week by 2013. Around 2013 we expanded our volunteer network to lawyers in rural areas with banking experience.
It was around 2012 that the name Peters Care was formed to bring the volunteer group together under a name.
In early 2014 the ABC featured a program on Simon McCann and Peters Care, which raised the profile of the small volunteer network. However, the ABC feature was Australia-wide, which opened the floodgates across Australia with farmers seeking help.
Peters Care has always been funded by its founder, running on mobile phones and impromptu office space, often struggling. In 2014 a Sydney based foundation came to the aid of Peters Care, with a remit to assist with financial support in operational costs such as premises, telephony, staff and also to provide funding to make application to become a registered charity. This financial assistance was a gift from heaven; but it was withdrawn after 3-4 months. Peters Care was then left with new unbudgeted costs and no funding, and reverted back to a small unfunded volunteer group.
Despite the relevance of Peters Care, it does not receive any government or financial assistance.
Banks and institutions have offered to provide financial support, however, this would represent a conflict of interest and impact our ability to mediate with banks.
Our aim in 2017 is to obtained registered charity status.