Little Milla loves going with her mum every Thursday to AnglicareSA’s Trott Park residential aged care home to see her older buddies. 

The nearly two-year-old attends the home’s intergenerational playgroup, designed to bring children and older people together to play, sing songs, and interact in a fun and stimulating environment. 

Milla’s mum, Kate, said the intergenerational aspect of the playgroup was a big part of what encouraged her to join.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of intergenerational playgroups,” Kate said.

“It’s valuable seeing what young children bring to older people and what they can provide in return.”

Kate, who also attends the group with her sister and niece, said it was a great opportunity for them to have a family day.

“My 97-year-old grandad (Milla’s great-grandad) is a resident here,” Kate said.

“The playgroup gives us a chance to visit him, as well as providing a welcoming environment for Milla and her cousin Ava to interact with him.”

Intergenerational playgroups offer more than just a fun activity or a few laughs. 

Kate said attending the playgroup had helped to instil confidence in Milla and given her the space to develop her communication skills.

“Milla gets so much confidence being around older people and aged care homes from this playgroup,” Kate said.

“She enjoys interacting with the residents and has a great morning.”

AnglicareSA Customer Wellness Lead Sharon Jennings said intergenerational playgroups were always a hit with the residents.

“Whenever the children visit, you just see the residents relax and start smiling,” Sharon said.

“Playing and interacting with the children gives them a sense of community. They have the opportunity for social connection and to share their stories.”

Join the fun

Families with children up to five years old are invited to join the playgroup. The program runs during the school term on Thursdays at 10:45 am at 4 Kangaroo Thorn Road, Trott Park.

Give the Trott Park team a call on 8329 2401 for more information and to register your interest.

Singing ‘Climb Every Mountain’ in front of a packed crowd in Vienna, nearly being kidnapped in Salzburg, and getting dangerously close to a wild boar on safari in South Africa.

These are just a few colourful tales from a life well lived by Leah, a customer of AnglicareSA’s social activities program, who recently celebrated her 104^th birthday.  

Leah was born in 1920, the same year the League of Nations was created, Qantas was founded, and the first detective novel by Agatha Christie was published.

As a child during the Great Depression and a young adult during World War Two, Leah has seen it all, from pandemics to the reigns of five British monarchs.

Born in Cornwall, Leah was a young woman when she moved to South Africa and met her beloved late husband Bill, who ran a successful company manufacturing car batteries.

Looking back on her life with Bill and their five children – sadly losing two of their sons at a young age – Leah said music was a big source of her family’s happiness.

“My husband loved to hear me sing – it was his greatest joy,” Leah said.

“We used to have a party once a month with our friends and Rosemary (one of Leah’s daughters) would play the piano and we’d all sing the latest songs.”

Despite some of her family still living in South Africa, there’s no shortage of friends and connection in Leah’s life.

Her no-nonsense, cheeky sense of humour and positive spirit are popular with the other ladies of AnglicareSA’s women’s social activities group, who adore her.

The group celebrated the centenarian’s birthday party with high tea, spoiling her with presents and sharing stories of her zest for life and graciousness.

Leah said she was blown away by the number of gifts and well-wishes she received from the group.

“I was overwhelmed by the level of celebration,” she said.

Leah said the key to living a fulfilling life was to always show kindness to others.

“We should live our lives with kindness,” she said.

“We should cheer up people we see. I tell them that God loves them and does not want them to be sad.

“Stop by and say hello – if you do that, you will always be happy.”

This Aged Care Employee Day, AnglicareSA says ‘Thanks for Caring’ to our dedicated workforce of more than 1,000 care workers, hospitality teams, nurses, allied health professionals, lifestyle teams, coordinators, administration staff, and many others who work across our Aged Care Services.

They make a difference every day by providing essential care, comfort, and companionship to older Australians. They help our loved ones live longer in their own homes or feel at home in residential aged care.

Their commitment and dedication to providing extraordinary care in what can be at times a challenging occupation is worthy of recognition. 

From Holden to aged care

For Adris Salih, home care wasn’t part of his original career plan.

“I worked at Holden for 28 years and thought I’d be there until I retired,” Adris said.

However, the closure of Holden’s manufacturing plant threw a spanner in the works for Adris, who had to find new employment, choosing to retrain as an aged care worker.

“I like to talk to people and have good people skills, so I decided to give it a go and try something different.”

Adris Salih

“It was a big change, but I have really enjoyed it.”

Adris, who has been a part of AnglicareSA’s community aged care team for nearly 10 years, was recently promoted to Home and Community Client Services Lead and now manages 43 care workers across metro Adelaide.

He said he loved being able to mentor the next generation of aged care workers.

“I try to catch up with each of them as much as I can on their shifts and see if they need any support.

“I love being able to help them to care for our customers.”

Adris said Aged Care Employee Day provided an opportunity to recognise aged care employees’ hard work and commitment to the health and wellbeing of older people.

“Aged care workers put 110 per cent into their work,” he said.

“The job we do is huge and makes a big difference to the lives of older people.”

Bringing the fun

Darcy Kemp likes to say that her role as a Customer Wellness Assistant at our Grange residential aged care home is all about bringing the fun.

From celebrating events to facilitating gardening groups, armchair travel sessions, and the all-important Bingo Wednesdays, Darcy brings bucketloads of enthusiasm to every lifestyle activity she’s a part of.

Darcy is part of the lifestyle team responsible for designing and creating engaging and fun leisure activities that meet residents’ needs.

It’s a role she thinks is very important for residents’ health and wellbeing.

“Moving into a residential aged care home can be hard initially for residents, who are now living with other people they don’t know. I like to make them feel at home and find ways to get them involved in activities that make them happy and where they can connect with other residents.”

Darcy Kemp

“When you age, your abilities might change, but your interests don’t.”

It’s clear that the residents are fond of Darcy – smiles and laughter are common takeaways in their interactions with her.

And talking to Darcy, the feeling is mutual.

“I love talking to the residents and their families and hearing their stories.

“I form such strong bonds with the residents, it’s like I have 100 grandparents,” she joked.

Darcy said Aged Care Employee Day was also a chance to acknowledge the contributions of older Australians.

“I think it’s so important that we give back to older people and look after them,” she said.

“Everything that we have now is thanks to them.”

Joining AnglicareSA’s Aged Care team

With the number of Australians over 85 expected to double over the next decade, it’s no secret that more aged care workers are needed to keep up with the demand.

Want to make a difference in the lives of older Australians? Join the AnglicareSA team and apply for a role in aged care here.

Music has the power to connect people of all backgrounds and generations and AnglicareSA home care customer Ric is keen to get the band back together.

Ric is a regular at several social groups run by AnglicareSA, however the absence of a music group is off key for the passionate musician and karaoke enthusiast so he’s now working with Social Activities team in putting the call out for others to join him.

“When you think about the number of AnglicareSA customers across home care, aged care, and other programs and how many of them are old musicians,” Ric said.

“How many of them played in bands or orchestras and have instruments in the cupboard just collecting dust.

“I want to get them together, get their gear out of the cupboards and join a big band – there would be singers out there too.”

Growing up with a love of music, Ric got his start in the industry at the age of 15 doing sound and lighting at the former Palais Royale on North Terrace.

A move to Sydney saw him immersed in the booming music scene travelling with bands throughout the 1960s and ‘70s as a backing vocalist for the likes of Max Merritt and The Meteors, Dinah Lee, and Ricky May.

“Music brings people together and provides a sense of purpose,” he said. “It’s helped me beat cancer twice – it’s just always been a part of my life and still is.”

Social Activities Coordinator Tash Burczyk said the benefits of social groups went far beyond just remaining active as they also ensured AnglicareSA customers had opportunities to remain connected socially with significant friendships often formed via the groups.

The potential for a new music group, she said, would fill a growing gap in the social calendar.

“We had a choir before Covid that was around 30 strong,” she said. “During Covid it stopped, and a lot of members didn’t come back to the group – even a singing group that replaced it has seen numbers dwindling.

“With Ric coming along with his new ideas around turning it into a music group has just been fantastic.

“We’ve got fliers out now so we’re just waiting for feedback from other customers around who will be interested in that we can start to build that group again.”

Costs of social activities vary depending on your government funding package and the specific group activity, with co-contributions ranging from $1.50 through to $14.50 – still great value for a day out all expenses included.

For more information about how to get involved with the Social Activities please contact 8209 6626.