Thirty two years of volunteering for go-getting Grandma

An energetic grandmother who has been volunteering with Victorian not-for-profit aged, disability and education services provider, Villa Maria, for more than three decades says she’s “not going anywhere else anytime soon”.

Knoxfield resident, Carol Pickering, 67, began volunteering at Villa Maria’s Wantirna aged care facility in 1979 and would recommend it to anyone thinking of volunteering.

“I was in a group of ladies from Scoresby Uniting Church who would take residents out shopping and for a cup of tea once a week. Then when everyone else slowly stopped coming I stayed on and kept visiting the residents, I loved it,” Mrs Pickering said

When the aged care facility closed for redevelopment in 2009, Mrs Pickering immediately volunteered her services to the adjoining Villa Maria Gateway Wantirna facility – which runs day programs for adults with disabilities – where she has remained ever since.

Mrs Pickering said the transition from supporting older people to supporting adults with a disability was easier than she first thought.  Now she shares her love of arts and crafts with the people at Gateway, holding creative classes once a week.

“We’ve made photo frames, coat hangers, lots of different things. I brought my sewing machine in a few weeks ago and the guys had a go at that. You can see so much happiness on their faces when they’ve made something, it’s a fantastic reward. As I’ve always said I reckon I received more love and affection from all the people at Villa Maria than I did out of my own family!”

Gateway coordinator, Belinda Girotto, said Mrs Pickering’s time was a “precious gift” for staff and the people supported by Gateway, particularly as she is their only volunteer.

“Carol is fantastic. She is very positive and encouraging and has the time and the patience to sit with the guys and complete tasks that are quite tricky. Even just something like threading, when they say they can’t do it she will say ‘yes you can, you just have to find another way’. She knows they have some limitations but doesn’t let that get in the way.”

Ms Girotto said more volunteers would be a huge asset to the staff and 25 people supported by Gateway.

“It just means there’s someone extra there that they can spend some quality, one-on-one time with. It’s important when you’re in a group setting to have that individual, meaningful engagement.”

If you would like to volunteer at Gateway Wantirna please call Villa Maria’s Volunteering Resources team on (03) 9855 7755.