For Val, retirement and the loss of her parents sparked a desire to find a meaningful connection with people of their generation.
Through Community Gateway’s Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme (ACVVS), she found a profound calling, offering companionship, preserving local histories, and bringing creative, sensory joy to isolated aged care residents across our region.
“I started community visiting after I retired. Both my parents had died and I was looking to do something that I would enjoy, that would be a link with people of my parents’ age.”
“Community Gateway matched me amazingly well with the first aged care resident I visited. Pat was from the UK and had been a war bride after falling in love with an Aussie soldier. Some of Pat’s happiest times were working in the underground war rooms in Newcastle, UK.”
At Community Gateway, we believe that effective companionship relies on empathy and genuine interest.
By intentionally learning about residents’ unique lives and histories, volunteers like Val truly brighten days, reduce loneliness and boost mental health.
“Pat described her experiences there in great detail, so imagine her absolute amazement when I Googled pictures of all the things she had described and took them in to show her!
Another resident I visited was a local man who had enjoyed reading The Northern Star every day during his breakfast time. After the publication closed down, I would cut out any local information I could find in the Daily Telegraph I received at home, and would take it in to him to help keep him in touch with what was happening.”
Combating cognitive decline and isolation requires thoughtful, sensory interventions. Through simple, creative acts like bringing in garden flowers or memory-triggering trinkets, Val is actively improving quality of life and health outcomes for seniors.
“I have a nice garden and sometimes I like to take in a selection of flowers to people I’m visiting. I try to pick some that will last for at least a couple of weeks as many of my residents are bedridden and can’t care for the flowers themselves. This way, even if they forget that they have had a visitor, the flowers are a reminder that someone cares. Also, even someone with dementia can get a lot of pleasure from smelling a flower, as the sense of smell is the last sense lost.
When I’m visiting, it’s easy for me to talk about what I’ve been doing, but I am really conscious of how little someone confined to bed may have to contribute. To help with this, I’ve often gathered a dozen or so mixed small items about the house, kitchen gadgets etc, and put them in a biscuit tin to bring out during my visit. It’s amazing how a simple item like a kitchen tool, sewing thimble or an unusual button can trigger a memory.”
“Like in all endeavours, the more you put in, the more you get out of the effort and commitment of time. I’ve certainly derived a lot of pleasure and satisfaction.
I try and plan something to do or talk about before each visit…Fulfilling my volunteering role has given me so much back from the people I have met.”
