The enduring dream of the Reverend John Flynn, lives on 92 years later in the form of Royal Flying Doctor Service, and I am personally pleased along with the Bush Kids Admin Team, to be able to put together this Bush Kids RFDS 2022 Calendar along with all of you who contributed photographs, to mark this special milestone. The Rev. Flynn was a man of God whom recognised that for Australia to grow and thrive, there was a need for families in the raw frontier of this emerging nation. Without a “mantle of safety” in the form of assured medical assistance, women were reluctant to subject their children to the harsh and often dangerous place we know as the Australian bush. Since the advent of the RFDS, the far outposts in rural Australia, are not as isolated medically as they once were, as there is always the knowledge that if “something happens” – accident, injury or illness, the Flying Doctor will come. The RFDS has directly contributed to population growth in rural Australia.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service is unique in the world where 24-hour medical service is provided free of charge 365 days per year, to whomever needs medical assistance in rural Australia, even to the furthest point. The RFDS will go to the places where few care to travel, flying over some of the remotest country in the world, ensuring that wherever you live in Australia, the vision of the Rev. Flynn in the form of the RFDS will go, to provide medical assistance and retrieval.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who have provided the service of doctor, nurse, pilot, and administrators over these past 92 years, plus all those people who have tirelessly raised funds that have enabled the RFDS to continue, ensuring that the heart of Australia continued to beat, and in particular, the people that make up the agricultural sector in this land, which is the engine room of this nation, along with mining and rural and remote communities, all of which, are very dependent upon the RFDS. Australia wouldn’t be the economic powerhouse it is today, through primary production without the Rev. Flynn and his “mantle of safety”.

We at Bush Kids look forward to continuing to help keep the “Flying Doctor Flying” through the sales of this 2022 Calendar. This year we are raising funds for the Victorian of the RFDS and would like to invite you to participate by entering photos and or buying Calendar’s when they are finalised.