The pharmacy is something that has remained essential during the pandemic and so creating a place where people can get help is important for a location like Blooms the Chemist in Mudgee.

Tucked away on the western side of the store is an iPad where people that need to find information on mental health or domestic violence support can now freely access it.

For someone seeking out these services, this nondescript station could be the lifeline someone is looking for.

Cass Mastrone of the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program said it was born out of the idea that people could still go to the pharmacy even in lockdown.

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"The iPad initiative kind of came out of the idea of people being quite isolated during COVID when we were completely locked down and you're only allowed to go the supermarket and the pharmacy. And what we wanted to combat was people not being able to access appropriate support or information around domestic violence and/or mental health issues," she said.

"Obviously there's different levels of need out there but certainly people aren't always to access their devices privately or seek information confidentially. So people are allowed to come here and access the information free, they don't have to give out their details,

"The chemist is safe place, they can talk to someone about who to contact if need be."

Owner of Blooms Alex Keipert said they were thrilled to be a part of something that could have a huge impact on someone.

"We're thrilled to have an initiative like this in the pharmacy," she said.

"We recognise -especially this year - that lots of people are presenting with new or different mental health circumstances. So having a hub where someone can come for perhaps a little bit of information which might allow them to seek further help, it's a wonderful initiative and we're really proud to be a part of it."

The initiative wouldn't have been possible without the PDF fund, and it was something Peter Druitt said was easy to support.

"The PDC fund which was a part of the PDC company before it was sold, was basically a charity foundation that we set up for various local causes," he said.

"We've been working with Cass on a number of initiatives and this was something that she wanted to do, it needed funding and it was something e thought was worthwhile so we went for it."

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