Nan Barb's Desert Deliveries: 84-Year-Old Op Shop Owner Brings Clothing to Remote Communities

An 84-year-old op shop owner from Donnybrook is embarking on a mission to bring essential clothing to remote communities in Western Australia's outback.

Known affectionately as "Nan Barb" around her hometown, Barbara Carroll travels thousands of kilometres each month to distribute donated clothes to charities and women's refuges in places such as Carnarvon, Newman, Nullagine, and Roebourne.

A Labour of Love

"I don't go out to get any rewards or anything; it just comes naturally," she says. "Somebody needs help, you help them, and that's what I do."

Nan Barb's community op shop is packed with a vast array of donated items, from household goods to clothing. The overabundance of donations led her to start the charitable campaign she calls "Nan Goes North".

Connecting with Remote Communities

Nan Barb's granddaughter, Tara Carroll, a proud Wiradjuri woman, joins her on these trips when she can. "Living remotely, that's a disadvantage already because they don't have access to a lot of medical or clothing or whatever it be," Tara says. "So to be able to go with Nan on these adventures with all the clothes and anything that they need, it's pretty cool."

Tara says her grandmother is an inspiration to her family. "Her heart is in the red dirt," she says, referring to Nan Barb's upbringing in the remote community of Nullagine.

A Community's Gratitude

Shahenaz Kouzi, a community advocate with the Newman-based Puntukurnu Aboriginal Medical Service, says both organisations have regularly received clothes donations from Nan Barb. "Blankets, winter and summer clothing, baby clothes, women's and men's clothing, it's tremendous," she said. "We love her. I wish she was my Nan."

Ms Kouzi says Nan Barb is well-known and loved by residents in the remote communities of the East Pilbara. "They call her the angel. There are too many good words for Barb from all the Aboriginal people; they all know her," she says.

Expanding the Outreach

Nan Barb's family and community are raising money for a truck, so she can expand her outreach and make it easier to take along a passenger. "[The van is] too uncomfortable to take two people because there's no room for your legs," Nan Barb says. "I don't need it, but everybody else reckons I need somebody to go with me."