Famous, small-town pub doing more for its patrons than quenching thirst

In the village of 36 people, publican Tom Hancock said it was a place for people to have "something to do and somewhere to talk".

Tom and Emily Hancock bought the Collie Hotel, which is on the Oxley Highway between Gilgandra and Warren, in 2016.

The pub, and Mr Hancock, gained international attention during COVID for their videos making fun of the hotel's regulars, rural life and everything in between.

But at Regional Development Australia's recent Inland Growth Summit, Mr Hancock spoke about the role of his pub as a place for people to talk and share when things got rough.

"I think the biggest one is probably not even COVID, the biggest one was the drought.... As locals, the majority of locals are farmers, everyone was doing it really crappy," Mr Hancock said.

"You'd see people walking in the pub and normally they annoy the crap out of you and talk in your ear all day every day... but some days you'd see them walk into the pub and they'd be watching the TV, but they'd be watching through the TV.

"You'd go, 'how are you? How do you feel?' and as soon as you'd ask that question, they'd just go and let it all out and things got better."

Mr Hancock said having a place to go was especially important for men in rural areas.

"Mother hen, she's always going into town to get the groceries or take the kids to school or she's working in town... having a hotel situated in a place like ours, it gives somewhere for the workers to go and communicate and learn something off their neighbours. It's not all just about having a beer," he said.

During COVID, the Hancocks were still finding a way to boost the mental health of those who were struggling.

While they were in lockdown and the pub was closed they made a video every day for 43 days straight, and they've now reached more than 22 million people through social media.

"It's been a massive shiver-down-the-spine moment because a lot of people do actually thank us for what we've done," Mr Hancock said.

Angie Armstrong who runs Callubri Station at Nyngan knows all to well about the importance of having a place for people to gather.

When she had The Cocky's Wife cafe in Nyngan she saw for herself how it was helping the locals.

"I'm not disregarding the importance of health and education and those sorts of things which we desperately need more of in our towns. But hospitality really does fall into a category where we're probably not very well equipped for the job we do sometimes," Ms Armstrong said.

"When I first launched a cafe, I'd often have young mums coming in with new babies and it gave them a place to connect."

She said the value of having somewhere to catch up was often underestimated.

But the running of the business isn't always sunshine and rainbows either.

Mr Hancock said "the black dog" reached everyone in business in one way or another.

But despite whatever has happened, be it a sleepless night or a fight with the wife, Mr Hancock said you always had to greet every person through the door with a smile.