Brightwater has relaunched its volunteer program as the Brightwater Buddy Volunteer Program, providing more opportunities to connect residents and clients in the community with more volunteers.
One of those Brightwater Buddies is Barbara McKay, who has been volunteering at Brightwater’s Transitional Aged Care Home in Kingsley since her retirement. Barbara’s enthusiasm and warm and welcoming nature makes her a favourite at residents.
“I just love it. It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done, just seeing residents laugh and light up when they see me is my ultimate reward,” said Barbara.
“I retired at 68, and that's when I thought I need something else to do too, and when I saw that Brightwater was looking for volunteers I jumped at the opportunity.”
Brightwater Kingsley is a transitional care home, in which residents may only stay for up to 12 weeks, before moving on to a more permanent home. Barbara said she enjoys this aspect as she gets to meet lots of interesting people on a daily basis.
“That’s what I like about transitional aged care, I get to meet new residents all the time,” said Barbara.
“Often they just want a friend, someone to talk to and someone to listen. I also like interacting with the family, sometimes the family members need someone to chat to as well, as it’s quite a transition for them as well,
“I can sit in the lounge with residents if that’s what they want or if the weather is nice, we sit outside and draw and listen to music, sometimes we dance to their favourite music - I like to make it fun,
“I would definitely recommend others to get involved.”
Brightwater is currently recruiting for Brightwater Buddies across residential aged care and disability and in the community, from Mandurah all the way to Joondalup and many locations in between.
If you would like to become a Brightwater Buddy, there a many different ways to get involved including volunteering with our residents face-to-face, volunteering virtually through letter writing, or nominate someone to be connected.
Find out more by visiting our website here. Or you can call our Volunteer Services team on 08 9202 2817.
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