93 and still giving for Rosebrook aged care volunteer

A visit to Bolton Clarke Rosebrook has become a weekly ritual for volunteer John, 93, who has been a part of the community for nine years.

The active volunteer says it’s all thanks to the motivation of his late wife Joyce who resided at the home and would volunteer her own time as well.

“My wife had Parkinson’s and was living at Rosebrook for seven years before she passed away,” John said.

“When she was there, we used to visit residents together and it really helped fill in the day and made it more interesting.

“When we were there together, we made friends and so I’ll say hello to them when I’m there now.”

Now John says the regular visits to the home have become a major part of his life so he wanted to continue that work even with Joyce no longer being at the home.

“Doing this was such a big part of our lives and I just wanted to keep contact with the home because Joyce was there for so long.

“Generally, I’ll talk with residents about what’s going on in the world or sports and occasionally water the plants and things like that.

“Now, I still visit once a week on a Thursday and I spend that time with the residents.”

For John, volunteering has always been a big part of his life spending time with the Country Fire Authority, his local sailing club and Lions Club so taking time out to spend it with residents has been an enjoyable addition to the calendar for him.

“Some residents are restricted in their movements or don’t want to often leave their rooms so it’s nice to sit down with them.

“I think it’s really worthwhile putting in the effort to go there and spend time with residents.”