BURWOOD EAST
Ryman Times
Autumn 2020
New beginning Des and Coral delighted to move into their new home
Welcome to our community
Construction update
Introducing Roslyn
Greetings from Roslyn... Hello and welcome to my first column as the new manager of Burwood East Retirement Village. I have had a unique opportunity to join the Ryman Healthcare team well in advance of the village opening and I am taking full advantage of this opportunity. While basing myself at our Nellie Melba village in Wheelers Hill, I have also been to New Zealand a number of times, which has provided me with great insight into Ryman Healthcare. One of my first events for the new village was a gathering at Burwood District Bowls Club for all our contracted independent residents. The vibe in the room was one of excited anticipation – people meeting and connecting with their personal stories of purchasing a home at Burwood East.
Life at our village is going to be filled with laughter, friendship and a sense of belonging. I’m excited to bring my experience to the Burwood East retirement village and to develop a team of likeminded people who will create a caring, positive village atmosphere. All we need now is a fabulous name for our village! Kind regards,
Roslyn Prentice Village Manager Ph: 0406 782 658
A note from Lina & Michelle... Hello everyone, we hope you had a fantastic time with your families and friends during the holidays. During December it was fantastic to see our residents meeting each other at our Christmas events and it was great to see these new friendships form.
Apartment plans available now!
This year has already been busy with our community sponsorships in full swing and we have sponsored bowling competitions at Bennettswood Bowls Club and Chadstone Bowls Club. We have also released new apartment plans for stage 3. If you would like to view these plans, don’t hesitate to call us or make an appointment to come see us in our office.
Lina Benedetti & Michelle Shaw Sales Advisors
Ph: 8849 8799 Burwood East Ryman Times | 2
Welcome to our community Burwood East Retirement Village will be a community in its own right, with some wonderful amenities that you can make use of. As well as this, there will be plenty of events, speakers and groups that you can get involved in.
Play bowls with friends.
Have morning tea with your friends, group or club in our cafĂŠ.
Enjoy our complimentary happy hour.
Take a dip in the indoor heated pool.
Work together in the residents’ workshop.
Attend shows from visiting bands and performers.
Burwood East Ryman Times | 3
Resident profile
Meet Des and Coral For Des Akers moving to the site of the former Burwood Brickworks in Burwood East and what will be Ryman’s newest retirement village is a return sixty years in the making. Des, who will be joined in the village by his wife Coral, says he is “very familiar” with the site. “In the old days I used to go down with the trailer and pick up bricks to build terraces for a new garden in a brand-new home in Blackburn North when in those days all you got was a new home, sitting on a rough block of land and establishing a garden was left to you. “So, we are sort of going back to where it all began.” The Templestowe Lower couple will leave their home of 47 years and be among the first residents to move into the village in August. But rather than being stressful, making the decision to join the village has been full of “little bonuses”, and the hardest part has been breaking the news to a long-time next-door neighbour, they say. Another bonus was having two best friends move into Ryman’s Weary Dunlop Retirement Village in Wheelers Hill, Des says. “We went and had a look at the building they live in when they shifted in about five years ago. I think we had done all our homework when they announced that they had apartments to sell for Burwood East. “We did find out further little bonuses, like there is someone to help with moving in, not just the furniture, but putting things on the walls and setting the place up. “Having the interior designer come out and discuss the furnishings, that was another nice surprise, and I felt it was a fair contract, and so did our lawyer.” Coral says they have felt supported throughout the process: “you feel as if you are not on your own, you have assistance from the team to help with the big things, and the small things.” The couple will move into a three-bedroom apartment so Des, who worked in finance, can have a study and “disappear in there like he does at our current house”, Coral laughs. And Templestowe Lower will remain part of their lives, she says. “We will probably come back to have coffee and see friends, it’s not that we are going to the end of the earth. “But I think there was a window there for us where the older we got, the harder making the move would be, so we felt now is the right time.”
Burwood East Ryman Times | 4
Burwood East Ryman Times | 5
Construction update Like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, the Burwood East Village is quickly changing from the site of the former Burwood Brickworks to that of an outstanding retirement village. With the first residents scheduled to move in later this year, Project Manager Tim Haworth says the site is “progressing well”. “Building one is well underway with the basement retention and excavation works complete, and the foundations completed as well.” Work on building two is more advanced, with concrete poured for level one, and level two is under way as well Tim says. Fit-out trades people are expected to enter apartments within the next month to add furnishings and details which will turn the buildings from structures, to homes and a workplace for many.
The site of the common area is being prepared for civil works including underground power, water and gas, as well as drainage. Between 60 to 80 people are working on the site each day, and a further seven people will join the construction team within the coming weeks. The site is now under the guidance of site manager Simon Judge who recently joined the Burwood East construction team, Tim says. “Building one is well underway with the basement retention and excavation works complete, and the foundations completed as well.” Upon completion the village will be home to around 400 people across 114 aged care beds, including low care, high care, and specialist
Burwood East Ryman Times | 6
dementia care, 96 serviced apartments, and 174 apartments. Residents at the village will have a wealth of shopping and lifestyle opportunities on their doorsteps with the neighbouring Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre having opened in December. The shopping centre boasts a 2000 sqm rooftop sustainable farm, and more than 20 per cent of retail space dedicated to agriculture. The centre’s ‘eco-friendly’ focus also extends to a restaurant which will use produce grown on the rooftop farm, electric charging stations in the carpark, an organic waste composting system and 2.5 hectares of open space, including 1 hectare of parklands and wetlands.
The expansive retail centre also includes a supermarket, bottle shop, medical centre and pharmacy, travel agent, childcare provider, car wash, pet groomer, workshop space and butcher.
Burwood East Ryman Times | 7
Walking back to happiness Written by Dr Doug Wilson Take a walk. What a difference a word can make, or even three words or ten letters. They can mean one thing, or the reverse – an overbearing boss berating a nervous employee, or a bullying sports opponent, dissing the opponents by yelling ‘take a walk’! In contrast, a doctor, giving quiet advice to an overweight patient, might say ‘take a walk’, any walk, but just do it. It will get you going. So, it really depends on the emphasis put on the words. Multiple short and long-term studies have analysed the health benefits and impact of regular exercise. The largest of these were done by the National Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School and other tertiary bodies. It also showed that the greatest risk of death occurred for those who did no exercise at all. For those who completed around 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week,
the risk of premature death was reduced by 30%. Where exercise was milder, premature death was still reduced to about 20%. In this case the more you do, the healthier you’ll be. The positive results are still achievable even if you start an exercise programme in your 70s. The LIFE study, run by the US National Institute of Aging, followed more than 1,600 participants aged between 70-89. All the participants were quite sedentary prior to the start of the study. The exercise programme included brisk walks totalling 150 minutes a week, weights for strength, flexibility and balance training twice a week. Over the course of 3.5 years, compared with the control group who received health education, the active individuals showed a 30% reduction in developing physical limitations or disabilities. The study summarised their view to; “people who engage in regular physical activity have a
Burwood East Ryman Times | 8
About Dr Doug Dr Doug Wilson has been an academic, physician, pharmaceutical industry research executive, and a medical scientist as well as a writer. For the past 30 years he has monitored the scientific literature as it relates to ageing, and the conditions that may interrupt your enjoyment of that process. With his background as a physician, a scientist, and a developer of new drugs, he’s well placed to distill clear messages from the huge forests of data that exist and confuse. Doug’s aim is to cut through the fads and fallacies to concentrate on the core issues and the physiological and psychological reasons behind them. lower risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some forms of cancer, depression, cognitive impairment and functional decline”.
Armed with this information, we can plan for our older years to be golden years, not tarnished, confused or stressed years.
So, what about walking? Isn’t this too mild to help?
Doug works as a consultant for Ryman Healthcare.
No! More and more studies show that walking for aerobic exercise has many benefits. A recent book In Praise of Walking by a Dublin neuroscientist, Shane O’Mara, waxes political on the personal gains of walking, alone or with friends, and especially outdoors. He emphasises the boost that this gives brain cognition and creativity. Bear in mind that not all exercise needs to be formal. Many domestic activities, including gardening, preparing meals, ironing and general housekeeping, can collectively constitute a significant and regular exercise activity, with the same benefits as a formal structured programme. The killer for older people is a sedentary lifestyle. This can be upended rapidly by adopting one or more physical activities. Moderate exercise is associated with an improvement in cognition and a reduction in depression.
Walking is not the only lifestyle change that can positively impact your health. But it is one that has the broadest impact. Your entire lifestyle improves your long-term health, both physical and mental, and slows your march towards loss of independence and the associated isolation. But exercise remains the most immediate beneficial activity, with walking being the easiest to do and the most convenient. Exercising also loosens your joints, improves cognition and mood, and facilitates social relationships. All of this is good for you. At the very least you’ll be healthier and happier – and that will do!
Burwood East Ryman Times | 9
Burwood East Ryman Times | 10
Introducing Roslyn Roslyn Prentice has been preparing for her new role as Ryman Healthcare’s Burwood East Retirement Village manager for the better part of 40 years. Having led a national sales team at Australia Post, experienced the loss of a parent, and been an active member of the Girl Guides since she was a child, Roslyn’s experiences have set her on a trajectory almost inevitably leading to Ryman Healthcare. While Ryman’s construction team are busy completing the 400-resident village in Burwood East, Roslyn has wasted no time in diving into a wealth of projects. “Some of the things I loved about Australia Post are the things I love about Ryman,” she says. “And being the leader of a Girl Guide unit is not all that different.
in the village managers so that by the time our villages open, we have gained so much experience,” she says. As part of her preparation for managing the Burwood East Retirement Village, Roslyn spent time shadowing the village manager of Ryman’s Logan Campbell Retirement Village in Auckland, New Zealand. “That was just fabulous,” she says. With new residents signing up for the village each day, Roslyn says she is right where she is meant to be. “I had been wanting to change industry. “Logistics is all well and good, but I wanted something more community minded for what will probably be my last career move. “My dad had Motor neuron disease (MND) and he passed away about 14 years ago.
“That closeness to the community, a trusted brand, a personalised brand.”
“I would have loved for him to come somewhere like this and just be cared for in an environment that is calm, and peaceful, and just beautiful.”
While Ryman’s construction team are busy completing the 400-resident village in Burwood East, Roslyn has wasted no time in diving into a wealth of projects.
“I’m really excited about watching our residents move into the buildings and watching the village evolve.”
Since starting in early September at Ryman’s Nellie Melba Retirement Village in Wheelers Hill, she has been involved in the bushland planting project, craft room, community garden, Fine Dining and a Christmas breakfast for the Nellie Melba and Weary Dunlop Retirement Village contractors.
Having experienced the outstanding care and community at Nellie Melba, she is looking forward to “getting out there and having a bowl and a Happy Hour glass of wine” when the Burwood East Retirement Village opens.
[Roslyn] is looking forward to “getting out there and having a bowl and a Happy Hour glass of wine” when the Burwood East Retirement Village opens.
“Close friends of neighbours of mine, and friends of the family have already signed up for the village. “I’m really excited about watching our residents move into the buildings and watching the village evolve.”
“I was hired in advance of my village opening because the company is quite willing to invest
Burwood East Ryman Times | 11
Ryman Bowls carnival flourishes For avid bowls players from across Australia and New Zealand the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve mark an important time on the calendar.
Isabella Hosken, 17, were joined by World Cerebral Palsy Games bowls gold medal winner, Lucas Protopapas, 24, in proving bowls is a sport for all ages.
Now in its seventh year, more than 700 players, including a team from Ryman’s Evelyn Page Retirement Village in Auckland, spent time on the greens of the Glen Waverley Bowls Club competing in the 2019 Ryman Healthcare Christmas Carnival.
Lucas said the Ryman tournament had become a highly regarded event in the bowls community.
Players ranged in age from 17 to 87 vied for $15,000 in prize money during the fiveday tournament. Tournament director Russ Nicholls said the tournament was the result of a “fantastic alliance” between the bowls club and Ryman. Ryman has sponsored the tournament for the past seven years. Participation numbers had more than doubled since the tournament began, he said. For Evelyn Page resident Brian Woods the tournament has become a triennial birthday celebration as he marked his 87th birthday during the tournament, having previously had his 84th birthday there, and he hoped to celebrate his 90th on the Melbourne green too.
“A lot of people come from different clubs to compete. You always know you are going to be in good company, and it’s run really well.” Two days of play ended early, following enforcement of heat rules. But, with a cold drink, and shade offered to all competitors, no complaints were received.
Roslyn Prentice Village Manager Ph: 0406 782 658 Call Roslyn for general enquiries, or information about low care, high care and specialist dementia care.
Mulgrave Country Club, and Bacchus Marsh bowling clubs pair, Ethan Higgins, 19, and
Sales Office: 65 Old Burwood Road, Burwood East
rymanhealthcare.com.au
Lina Benedetti & Michelle Shaw Sales Advisors Ph: 8849 8799 Talk to Michelle or Lina for information about independent or serviced apartments.