In Our Homes

Pop-up dining at Karingal Green

Karingal Green Health and Aged Care Community

Christmas at Karingal Green in High Wycombe, WA, was celebrated in style with the introduction of our very first pop-up restaurant called The Green.

Residents welcomed family and friends into their home for a special lunch or dinner to share in the spirit of Christmas and enjoy some festive treats. Guests enjoyed a welcome glass of champagne, followed by a delicious threecourse meal with all the trimmings. The tables were decorated beautifully and soon enough, The Green’s assembled diners were chatting and enjoying the ambience. Chef Jack prepared treats such as salmon pate and prawn salad, glazed ham and roast beef with cranberry sauce, roast potatoes, honey carrots. Dessert included traditional Christmas pudding and pavlova. By all accounts, guests had a wonderful time with The Green set to become a regular fixture in the home.

TUCK IN Karingal Green’s popup restaurant - The Green - was a big hit over the festive period.

Puzzle mastery at Menaville

Menaville Aged Care Home

THESE PHOTOS capture an intense mega jigsaw session in progress at our Menaville Aged Care Home in NSW.

When the pandemic first began, there was a rush on jigsaw buying as a way of passing time when we were all in lockdown. For some, the passion for finding the perfect place to put a missing piece has continued. Resident Ron, pictured in the yellow shirt, is completing this mega jigsaw puzzle with resident Irene as his assistant. It’s no mean feat either, as this particular puzzle has 1,000 pieces. Our residents have shown incredible patience and perseverance in putting together all the pieces to make the final image. All of the operations team, consisting of Roman, Hugh and Frank, also worked well together to achieve this common goal and help complete the image. The whole puzzle team were well-supported by other Menaville residents with plenty of encouragement and observational input.

A warm welcome

Caroline Chisholm Aged Care Home

We’d like to say a big hello to new Director of Nursing, Linda Silman, who has joined the management team at Caroline Chisholm Aged Care Home in Lane Cove, as of January 10. Linda brings a wealth of aged care management skills and experience to Caroline Chisholm, and we are excited and honoured to have her on board. Welcome Linda, from all the residents and staff at Caroline Chisholm and NSW’s Hall & Prior team.

50

years of wedded bliss

Agmaroy Aged Care Home

Agmaroy Aged Care Home resident Maureen and husband Terry Ryan celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on December 11, 2021, in a joy-filled day with cake and Champagne to mark the occasion.

Like so many of our residents, Maureen’s story is filled with love and laughter. She spent her early years in Brookton, before her family moved to Kensington. Meanwhile, Terry was born in the Goldfields and the couple met in Perth through the Catholic Social Club in the 1960s. They were one of many couples from that club who later married, and would go on to buy their first home in Thornlie in the early 1970s. They have three adult children and two grandchildren, and until about five years ago, Maureen held an important role on a helpline. The couple were involved with volunteer work throughout their lives until Maureen began to struggle with her health. To celebrate this milestone, staff and residents joined with the happy couple to toast their 50 years. “The beautiful residents helped to make the celebration even more special,” said Veronica, one of their daughters. “I feel that we have definitely made the right decision in choosing Agmaroy. I can see that the staff really care about all the residents.”

Feathered friend pays a visit

Caroline Chisholm Aged Care Home

All the residents and staff are united in joy when our kookaburra friend comes to visit us here at Caroline Chisholm in Lane Cove, NSW. Our wonderful new garden seems to draw in lots of native birds to sit by the water feature and enjoy our selection of flora that has been planted along the sensory garden paths. This little fella also enjoys telling everyone when he is around, with his loud and hearty laughing sound. We all stop what we are doing and go out to watch the kookaburra when he announces his arrival. Then of course for the rest of the day we are singing ‘Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree’!

Saying ‘I do’ one more time

Belmont Aged Care Home

Doug and Johanna, residents at Belmont Aged Care home in WA, renewed their wedding vows recently. The table was decorated beautifully and a feast fit for a romantic wedding was created by the Belmont team. It was beautiful to see a loving couple surrounded by joy and happiness. Thank you for letting us witness your renewal service. We wish both Doug and Johanna many more years of wedded bliss.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR Doug and Johanna celebrated with their friends and family as they renewed their vows at Belmont Aged Care Home in WA.

Bexley buddies for life

Bexley Aged Care Home

Living in residential care may seem scary for people new to this environment, but for many, it doesn’t take long for some of the best friendships to form. The social inclusiveness here at Bexley in NSW has seen many a new friend being made over time. There is often laughter within activity groups, games camaraderie or simply just sharing a morning conversation or laugh over a cup of tea. Feeling included is a big part of what makes our home special; the group of residents we have is so open and interested in helping each other and understanding each other’s personality. We are very lucky to have the wonderful residents that we do!

You can’t beat a SAO

Aubrey Downer Aged Care Home

WILD COCKATOOS frequent the lush gardens of Aubrey Downer in NSW but one little fellow in particular has taken to our Jeffress residents.

We have named him ‘Sao’ as he insists on eating these biscuits out of our residents’ hands. Although wild, he meets us at the door every morning when we head out for some walking in the sunshine to see if he can catch a ride on our walkers. This is such a joy to our residents and staff, and another example of how lucky we are to have such wonderful natural flora and fauna on our doorstep, both in NSW and WA.

FIRM FRIENDS Social activities like playing games and sharing a joke or two build relationships between residents.

Australia Day celebrations

This year’s Australia Day on January 26 was marked around our WA and NSW aged care homes in colourful and imaginative ways.

There were BBQs galore, lots of flag waving and of course plenty of lamingtons to go around. Other homes sang Aussie songs and shared stories about this great land, all sharing in the Aussie spirit and sense of mateship. Hall & Prior aged care homes celebrate and recognise national days from all over the world, and the Allied Health and OT teams spend many hours ensuring our residents have plenty of fun and games during these special occasions. Thank you to all those who contribute their time and creativity to these events - we really appreciate you!

Sewing Sally

Mertome Aged Care and Retirement Village

Mertome Aged Care and Retirement Village in Bayswater, WA has some wonderful people in its community, and today, we’d like to introduce you to Sally Hegotule. Sally was born on the island of Niue in the South Pacific, a small island nation known for its limestone cliffs and coral-reef dive sites, and you’ll find it about 5,800m east of Australia.

She met her husband on Niue and moved to New Zealand with her family at the age of 16. She had four children - a son and three daughters, and at 35, she moved to Sydney as her sister married an Aussie. Sally’s family are very important to her so when her siblings moved to Perth, she chose to follow soon afterwards.

Sally’s passion for food led her to a career in the hospitality industry in New Zealand and Perth. During her spare time and retirement, she developed her musical

A STITCH IN TIME Sally Hegotule was born in the South Pacific island of Niue, and loves to share her passion for sewing.

talents and joined a choir and reggae group. These days Sally still loves to sing, cook up a storm and sew - as you can see from the photo where she’s busily sewing a new creation.

Decorate the cake!

Glenwood Aged Care Home

Cupcake decorating is a perfect way to blend two very important things - creativity and food. Our chef at Glenwood, Chef Amir, creates some delicious blank canvasses for our decorating artwork to begin. The residents enjoy picking out their favourites from a host of delicious and beautiful toppings to chose from to create their masterpieces. Choosing from a variety of different coloured icings, we also have lots of sweet treats to include like 100s and 1000s, edible baubles, stars, trees and much more. This activity promotes a social atmosphere and feeling of community among our residents who spend the whole time chatting and laughing about their creations. But the best part is always the eating - they go down so well with a nice cup of tea!