AMount Gambier and Surrounds NDIS Community group has been established on Facebook, an inclusive space for NDIS participants to communicate and share activities, services and information.

The group was established by Kefi Supports managing director Toby Harrap, who grew up in Mount Gambier and is passionate about the disability sector.

Mr Harrap moved to Brisbane around three years ago and founded disability support service Kefi Supports with his mum, Janet Harrap, which started up in Mount Gambier recently.

“We have been in the NDIS sector forever, I have been in it for 10 years, Mum’s been in it for 44, most of that in Mount Gambier,” Mr Harrap said.

“We had this realisation as we were talking to friends and family in the area there’s a need for more communication and more support in our hometown and we wanted to help try and provide that.

“It’s just about bringing everyone into one space to know what’s available.

“It’s also somewhere where you can just ask questions, the NDIS is rather complicated and a lot of people do not even know where to start.

“If we’re all in one place we can talk about it and educate each other.”

Mr Harrap believed there were issues regarding options for Limestone Coast residents under the NDIS, with companies tending to offer the same programs and activities.

“I think Mount Gambier has a lot of untapped potential in its people and also it’s got a large NDIS participant rate because it’s so cheap to live there,” he said.

“I’m hoping in bringing everyone together that maybe people can pitch ideas, maybe they cannot launch it but the idea is there and someone can take it on who can.

“It’s trying to bring Mount Gambier to where a lot of the other places are at within the NDIS and the choice and control and the life experiences and support.”

The group has already gained over 150 members and Mr Harrap said one of the main purposes of the group was to make it easier for people to find activities in the region.

“There’s a lot of potential and a lot of good connections in Mount Gambier but it is very much a town of ‘if you do not know, you do not know,’” he said.

“Once you have a group like this in Mount Gambier, you can change the lives of thousands of people in the town, not just people with disabilities or mental health conditions but their families, their loved ones, the people who are in the industry, everyone.”

Mr Harrap encouraged people to like, share, join and comment in the ‘Mt. Gambier and Surrounds NDIS Community’ group.