It was a Christmas treat come early at the end of November when South Australian icon, Kytons Bakery, kindly donated $4,500 worth of their tasty Christmas puddings to the AnglicareSA Hamper Drive.

Our Hope Mobile, accompanied by our wonderful Beyond Bank volunteers Kerri and Dom, were on hand to collect the 200 award-winning puddings direct from the doors of Kytons, continuing a long-running commitment from owners Sharon and Darren Sutton to supporting the community.

Sharon said Kytons Bakery was celebrating being part of the South Australian community for 85 years this year, a community they love being a part of.

“We know that many people are finding life tough out there at the moment,” Sharon said. “So, we thought we would spread some festive love out there.

“An important part of the Kytons business are the community fundraising drives which we have been assisting community, sporting, and school groups to run since the mid-80s.

“At the same time though we think it’s important to give back to the South Australian community directly as South Australians have supported Kytons over so many decades.”

With thousands of South Australians facing poverty every day and the increased cost of living, AnglicareSA will this year provide more than 1000 food hampers and more than 2000 children’s gifts to individuals and families in need.

By providing food hampers, basic essential items, financial and emotional support, we aim to not only support people in need during the festive season, but to help them to get their lives back on track.

With the help of our donors, like Kytons, thankfully our Emergency Assistance program can continue to provide relief and hope for those experiencing hardship and vulnerability.

To find out how you can support South Australians in need this Christmas, click here.

Enjoying a simple conversation and putting a smile on the faces of the residents he visits is real sense of satisfaction for volunteer John.

Every fortnight John gives up his time at our Westbourne Park residential aged care site as a Community Volunteer, engaging with a number of regular residents in one-on-one conversations about anything and everything.

“I try to get them to talk and find the touch points that really light up their eyes,” said John.

“And if I can get them talking and there’s a bit of a brightness in their face because they get quite animated about what they did in their working life or a particular hobby or interest – I’ve really achieved my goal.

“If you can get a big cheery smile when you walk in the room – and they’ve clearly not been feeling too good – and their face lights up, that’s the satisfaction, probably more than anything else.”

After retiring in 2019 from a successful career in retail, in particular shopping centre management, John wanted to be able to give back to the community that had been so good to him.

“I had thought for some months before retiring, that I really would need to do something else to keep engaged with people,” John said.

“And I think there was a real sense of wanting to give back. I felt that I’d been given a lot of opportunities in my working life, so giving back to the community, in some form or another, that’s what I’d do.”

Customer Wellness Coordinator Jennifer Pilling said the Westbourne Park team were grateful to have such a wonderful Community Volunteer in John who makes so much of a difference with his visits.

“John truly cares about the residents and their stories,” Jennifer said. “They enjoy discussing topics of interest to them and so the resident leads the dialogue and John follows.

“Families of residents also enjoy John visiting and will chat to him when he comes in.”

At AnglicareSA, we’re proud to have around 300 volunteers who give their time to support people in need. Volunteers are an integral part of our support services — their generosity and commitment enable us to deliver a broad range of services to the South Australian community.

You can Register Your Interest online by clicking here, or alternatively view our current volunteer opportunities here.

Giving her son Eden the best possible preparation for school was motivation enough for mum Michaela to join AnglicareSA’s HIPPY Program.

HIPPY is a free, two-year, home-based, early learning and parenting program for families with young children which is improving children’s school-readiness through AnglicareSA’s Elizabeth and Christies Beach sites.

Children’s earliest and most powerful learning comes from their family with parents laying the foundations for success at school by teaching their literacy, numeracy, and language skills which supports their love of learning throughout life.

“I thought it would be a really good addition in the lead up to school,” Michaela said. “I got a lot out of it too as it reminds you of all the things that you should be doing all the time.

“Things like rhymes, songs, and doing the actions to things – all the things you are doing anyway but it makes you do just that little bit more – plus you learn other skills that you might not have known about.”

Over the course of his three years working within the HIPPY program, Michaela said she had seen a lot of growth and development within Eden.

“Yes, emotionally of course plus we’ve seen development of his fine motor skills, being able to write his name and things like that.

“He has also shown a lot more confidence, because when we started off Eden was very shy in the group activities and now, he gets involved – it might be slow start sometimes but after he thinks about it he joins in.”

Eden was among 36 HIPPY students who graduated at a special ceremony held annually at the Adelaide Zoo marking an end to his involvement in HIPPY.

Michaela said she was thankful for the support of her HIPPY tutor, Kayla.

“They were really amazing; they were so supportive of us and often they were able to direct us to other services and supports available to us through AnglicareSA.”

Through the program, parents are supported to shape their child’s learning opportunities around their strengths and interests and to bring learning off the page and into the world. We call it ‘Everywhere Learning’ – taking HIPPY activities to everyday situations and places.

Get your children ready for school with HIPPY

Meet Frances. Frances is the friendly face that welcomes new residents into AnglicareSA’s Westbourne Park residential aged care site.

Given the role of Resident Companion, for the last four months Frances has been helping newcomers to the site make a smooth the transition into living at Westbourne Park.

“I like to show them where everything is,” Frances said, with a bright smile and beaming pride in her official title. “I help them settle in from a resident’s point of view and do everything from going on the bus with them, where to find things, or just talking.

“My dinner table is known as the Happy Table because everyone is included, and people know they can sit and talk and be welcomed.”

A resident at the site for just a year herself, Frances was approached by the Customer Wellness team who were looking do develop the role of Resident Companion.

Customer Wellness Coordinator Jennifer Pilling said the role was also about having someone that would be with residents who did not want to engage in activities and yet felt lonely or agitated.

“It was obvious that Frances would be ideal in this role, and she has taken to it with enthusiasm,” Jennifer said.

“Frances has been doing this role for a little more than four months now and we did an evaluation recently of the role and the other residents rated her highly.

“They said she was a wonderful friendly face that was always welcoming and gave them comfort when they needed it.”

Frances is relishing her role and describes it is as her “church work” where she also volunteers her time to helping others.

Her commitment and efforts were recently recognised as part of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day activities where she was one of several residents who were acknowledged with Certificates of Merit for their volunteer roles within the site.