When Marion Crook moved to Bacchus Marsh seven years ago, she instantly fell in love with the town. She speaks to Sumeyya Ilanbey about her new-found love – volunteering.
What’s your connection to Moorabool?
I came up to Bacchus Marsh seven years ago, from Footscray because I have a younger brother and his family here. It was the best change I ever made – I love it here. I can get out into the fresh air, I go bushwalking with some mates, lifestyle’s much more relaxed, and I’ve made lots of friends here.
Why did you decide to volunteer with the Providence Aged Care facility?
Providence is a place I’d known about because I had visited someone here many years ago. And when I was retrenched from work I was on Newstart for a little while – one of the things I had to do was volunteering. Providence is the place I chose to do it and, even though I don’t have to do volunteering because of changed circumstances, I’ve been coming for the past three years.
What’s been the most rewarding part of volunteering?
I just like to see the smiles on the faces of the people when I walk into a room. There are some people here who don’t have family or friends to come, or they come rarely. So it’s nice to speak to those people. They really do appreciate the company and friendship.
What kind of things do you do at the facility?
I have three ladies that I come to chat to. We just talk about whatever they want to talk about and I do little things for them. The oldest lady is 101, and I have a 98-year-old I’m sitting with right now, and another lady is 94. I do learn some things from them, but I was lucky in my life that I had my grandparents and parents for a long time – there’s been elderly people in my life all along.
I like listening to the ladies here, who have lovely childhood stories and stories about their families, where they worked, their likes and dislikes. I also like listening to stories of early pioneering life.
Would you recommend volunteering to other people?
Yes, I’d definitely recommend it. You get a lot of, in a selfish way, satisfaction from giving to other people. It’s very simple to give some people time. I’ve been able to manage my time – when you retire, you need some sort of structure in your life, especially when you’ve had 45 years by the clock.
Volunteering is a simple way of achieving that structure.
Have you formed new friendships?
I’d like to think I was friends with the people I speak to.
