THERE'S nothing better than a good sleep on a clean, new mattress, particularly when you've just endured the worst nature has to throw at you.

And so it is that Lismore's new Catholic Church leader Bishop Gregory Homeming established an appeal to raise funds to buy new mattresses for those who lost everything in the recent flood.

To date, more than 900 mattresses have been requested, with 820 of them already delivered. The remainder have been ordered or are in storage, with all mattresses purchased and distributed by local businesses.

Bishop Homeming, whose diocese includes the Tweed Shire, urged anyone who still required a new mattress to get in touch.

"After seeing so many people losing their homes, their livelihoods, we wanted to ensure that those impacted by the floods at the very least had something to sleep on," said Bishop Homeming.

"People have been incredibly generous and we thank both the Catholic communities around Australia as well as our local community.

"Difficult times bring out the best in people and this Appeal has been a united effort. The Lismore City Council has helped us distribute the mattresses to those in need, flood recovery agencies have coordinated requests through their centres; we are very grateful to everyone who has helped us provide a new mattress to people in need."

The appeal has raised over $350,000, coming from donations by individuals and Catholic dioceses and entities from all over Australia. The Diocese of Lismore will fund the residual cost of the program, estimated to be around $80,000.

People can still donate, by going to the website at www.dioceseoflismorefloodappeal.org.

Requests for new mattresses will be accepted up to May 31, 2017. To order call the Mattress Hotline on 0403 736 490 or email flood@lismore.catholic.org.au