Ryman Times Australia Edition Autumn 2019

RT

Ryman Times Australian Edition

Nellie Melba care centre milestone

Autumn 2019

Children galore at the Weary Dunlop summer party

Joining the electric car revolution

Gemma wins the Cashin Scholarship

A note from Gordy Gidday and welcome to your autumn edition of the Ryman Times.

We passed a significant milestone in Victoria with the opening of Nellie Melba’s village centre and we’re all looking forward to the grand opening party in April.

Opening the village centre is always an important moment – it is the heart and soul of the village and it also means that we are open for our care residents.

There’s a real buzz about the place and the comments from residents said it all, but I’d like to add my own vote of thanks to all the builders, subcontractors, designers, sales and operations staff who have worked so hard on Nellie Melba for so long.

She’s a beauty!

Victoria has been baking in record summer temperatures this year and it is pretty clear that the climate is changing.

Our Weary Dunlop and Nellie Melba villages have back-up generators to keep our essential services running, and they’ve proved to be a wise insurance policy.

This was brought home to me when I flew to check in with our residents and staff at Ernest Rutherford Retirement Village, which was about 20km from bush fires in the Tasman region of New Zealand.

Flying over the region gave me a real appreciation for the scale of the emergency – the fires were the largest we’ve experienced for more than 60 years and it was the biggest aerial firefighting effort in New Zealand’s history.

They’re probably smaller fires than you’re used to, but they were significant for us.

The way our team at Ernest Rutherford coped with the emergency was fantastic.

About a dozen team members were affected by the evacuations, but no one missed a beat to ensure all our residents were comfortable.

We’ve been through natural disaster emergencies before and we have well tested backup systems in place. However,

each one has its challenges and we’re always learning.

The fires gave me pause for thought about the climate and how events like this might be more frequent in coming years.

We know that our staff and our residents want us to make sure we’re doing our bit to look after the environment for the generations to come.

It is an issue that is top of mind for everyone, so we’ve been busy working on sustainable measures by measuring our carbon footprint and identifying where we can make savings.

We’re part of CEMARS – which is a carbon emissions measurement and reduction scheme – and it means we’re audited to make sure we are not just talking about doing better, we’re being measured on our success at reducing energy and waste.

We’re introducing innovations such as electric cars and fast charging stations and looking for other ways to make savings.

These measures are just a start, there’s plenty more to come.

I hope you enjoy your latest Ryman Times, and I’m looking forward to catching up with as many of you as possible in Victoria during the year.

We’ve got exciting plans for Nellie Melba’s grand opening, and some special guests in store, and it should be a night to remember.

Take care,

In this issue 3

Nellie Melba care centre milestone

4

Children galore at the Weary Dunlop summer party

6

Joining the electric car revolution

7

Nellie Melba care centre reveal

8

Nellie Melba welcomes its first residents

9

The Long Road Home’s charity trek ends in Hanmer

10

Gemma wins the Cashin Scholarship

11

Mark Williams, taking carpet laying all in his stride!

12

Rita Angus portrait wins over Wellington

Ryman Healthcare Ltd Level 10, Suite 10.03 420 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004 1800 288 299 www.rymanhealthcare.com.au Front cover: Nellie Melba Ryman Retirement Village Clinical Manager Jacky Fitzsimon.

Gordon MacLeod Chief Executive

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Nellie Melba's new Clinical Manager Jacky Fitzsimon is excited for the opening.

Nellie Melba care centre milestone Ryman Healthcare’s operations in Australia have passed another milestone with the opening of the care centre at its second village, Nellie Melba.

The centre opened at the end of January, marking what regional manager Eileen Kielty described as “a huge step” in the Brandon Park village’s journey to completion.

“The centre is the beating, caring heart of the village, so to have it open and providing care and support to residents is very exciting,” Eileen said.

Jacky Fitzsimon has been appointed clinical manager of the care centre.

“Jacky was previously clinical manager at Woodcote, our founding village in Christchurch, so she’ll be going from Ryman’s oldest village to its newest.

“She’s extremely experienced and we’ve recruited a fantastic care team to support her, so residents will be receiving the best of care.”

Jacky says moving to Melbourne to help set up a new, much larger village is a “huge opportunity” and she’s relishing the challenge.

“It’s going really well. We have a

great team so far – we’ve got 40-50 staff and they’re all just getting stuck in,” she says.

The first resident moved into the care centre at the end of January, with about 10 more scheduled to join them in the weeks after that.

“As more residents move in, more staff start, and we’ll get all the systems and processes up and running.”

“The centre is the beating, caring heart of the village, so to have it open and providing care and support to residents is very exciting” Jacky says her philosophy of care is guided by one simple principle: “It’s the residents’ home”.

“We work in their home and whatever the resident wants, they get. If they want poached eggs for breakfast, they can have poached eggs for breakfast. If they want their

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dog to come visit, their dog can come visit – anything – it’s their home.

Nothing’s too hard.”

But it’s no ordinary home, with Jacky describing the new facilities at Nellie Melba as “beautiful – like a five-star resort hotel”.

The village is already home to more than 100 residents living in independent apartments.

And as work continues on Nellie Melba approaches completion, Ryman is continuing to develop plans for new villages at Burwood East, Coburg, Geelong, Mt Eliza, Mt Martha, Aberfeldie and Ocean Grove.

Children galore at the Weary Dunlop summer party Ryman villages have a long tradition of holding an annual Children’s Party just before the school starts for the year.

Each village chooses its theme and invites magicians and clowns to make the event special.

At Weary Dunlop Retirement Village the fountain of youth washed over, when more than 80 little ones burst through the front doors for its annual children’s party.

The village’s residents were joined by children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren in glorious sunshine for a fun-filled celebration of family.

“The village is always a lively place, but when you add a few dozen happy, excited kids to the mix it just creates a beautiful, bubbly atmosphere.”

Little ones enjoyed lolly packs, candy floss, icy poles, hot dogs, and were entertained by a magician, jumping castle and a petting farm. The jumping castle was a great favourite

among the children closely followed by the icy poles. At the petting farm the bunnies proved to be the most beloved animals among the children and even the adults!

Many grandparents delighted in the antics of the children and spent some quality time with their families and friends.

Village manager Kym Faulkner said the day was a huge success for the village.

“The kids had a wonderful time, and you could tell the residents just loved having them here,” she said.

“The village is always a lively place, but when you add a few dozen happy, excited kids to the mix it just creates a beautiful, bubbly atmosphere.”

Next year the village is hoping to go even bigger with a great many ideas floated around for a theme.

Activities and Lifestyle team member Deidre Forrester said they received “amazing” feedback from all the residents and visitors.

“It was the best weather I think we’ve ever had for the children’s party and everyone was just beaming,” she said.

“It was a perfect day.”

And we hope that the day was a ray of sunshine for our residents too.

Weary Dunlop resident David Finn and family.

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Children and their Ryman families Timeshad • 5a myriad of entertainment choices at the Weary Dunlop party event.

Ryman residents and staff will soon have access to a fast-charge network for their electric cars.

Joining the electric car revolution Ryman Healthcare is joining the electric car revolution by installing a fast charging network at five of its Auckland villages and moving its fleet to electric vehicles.

Fast chargers will be installed at Edmund Hillary, Grace Joel, Bruce McLaren, Logan Campbell and Evelyn Page as part of the New Zealand's drive to cut carbon emissions by switching to electric cars.

The chargers will be available to residents and their families as well as staff and members of the public visiting the villages.

Ryman will also be switching its car fleet to electric cars with the purchase of Hyundai Konas and will be piloting car ride and sharing schemes for its residents.

Switching to an electric vehicle fleet is one of the measures planned to reduce the company's carbon footprint.

Chief Executive Gordon MacLeod said there was growing interest from

residents in using electric cars and Ryman wanted to make sure it had a charging network in place to enable them to make the switch.

“A number of our residents have switched to electric cars and we want to make sure that we have a fast charging network to support them. While we're designing our new villages to incorporate charging points and the fast chargers will allow residents to top up with power quickly and conveniently.”

Last year Ryman Healthcare signed up to the CEMARS carbon reduction scheme and has measured its carbon footprint across its village network.

Switching to an electric vehicle fleet is one of the measures planned to reduce the company's carbon footprint.

Ryman already used hybrid vehicles and moving to electric cars was a logical next step, Gordon said.

“We know the world is changing quickly and we want to make sure we're adapting to use any new technology that's available to reduce our carbon footprint. We think enabling the use of electric cars is a perfect way to do this. We'll trial the network at five of our Auckland villages before considering a further roll out to the rest of our villages

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in New Zealand and in Australia.”

Ryman's fast charging network was one of a number of schemes to win support from the Government's Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund, which is a joint public and private sector initiative aimed at reducing emissions.

CEMARS In 2018 Ryman became a Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (CEMARS) certified company; we’ve measured our organisation carbon footprint and developed an emissions management and reduction plan.

We’re serious about making progress and committing to CEMARS ensures that we mean business.

We’ve come up with a range of measures to cut back on our impact, including reducing our energy consumption and landfill waste; and introducing our first fleet of electric cars along with a fast charging network for our residents.

The big reveal saw resident Tony Thompson enjoy the new centre facilities.

Nellie Melba village reveal Absolutely fantastic. First class.

Five-star. Amazing. Unbelievable.

The superlatives were flying in all directions as the curtain was raised on Nellie Melba’s village centre and residents had their first peek inside.

After excitedly watching on for months as the heart of the new retirement village, at Brandon Park, was constructed, residents were treated to a grand reveal and tour on January 29.

And they certainly liked what they saw.

Geoff Eager, who, along with his wife Heather was the first person to move into Nellie Melba in August last year, described the village centre as “fantastic”.

“I couldn’t be happier. The whole complex, it’s just first class. It’s all I can say: first class.”

Bob Barclay, who was also among the first people to move into the village, said he was blown away by what he saw.

“My first impression when I walked through the doors was it’s absolutely amazing, then when I went through other parts of it I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“We’re looking forward to spending a lot of time here.”

Gerry Thornewell was likewise gobsmacked.

“It’s absolutely fantastic. It’s better than I had expected, it must be at least a five-star hotel. It’s absolutely beyond belief.”

The village centre, which is accessed via the main entrance, includes the reception area and lobby, sprawling communal lounges, a cafe, bar, pool room, cinema, library, hair and beauty salon, indoor swimming pool, and gym.

“We’re looking forward to spending a lot of time here.”

“It’s just lovely,” Maree Thornewell said.

“It was exciting to come in those main gates – I felt there should have been a trumpet blast or something like that to welcome us.”

“It’s very exciting, a luxury beyond what I was expecting. People had said it’s like going on a cruise but you don’t pull up the anchor. It’s all here.”

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Ryman Healthcare manager Eileen Kielty said “the big reveal” was a huge success.

“The feedback from everyone was just ‘wow!’. It’s a lot more beautiful than they even thought it was going to be and they really appreciated the opportunity to see it before everyone else.”

Eileen said it was clear that residents immediately felt a sense of ownership and pride in the village centre.

“They’ve got a beautiful community and it’s just lovely that they now have got beautiful surroundings to spend time with each other in. It’s just wonderful.”

She praised all the staff who have worked so hard to deliver such a spectacular facility.

“In the week leading up to the opening it’s just been lovely to see the team of people come together from all parts of the business – from construction, IT, senior management, everybody. It’s just been a lot of fun to be part of it.”

Nellie Melba’s location suits Max and Heather Beattie.

Nellie Melba's pioneers are right at home Nellie Melba retirement village is already home to dozens of people, and will be home to many dozens more, but it all started with one couple’s leap of faith.

That couple is Max and Heather Beattie.

Now happily ensconced in their beautiful two-bedroom corner apartment overlooking the village’s bowling green, Max and Heather were the first people to sign up to move into Nellie Melba.

Heather says being the first people to ink a contract was “a bit of a leap of faith”, but one they certainly don’t regret.

“I don’t recall that we knew anybody who had gone into a retirement village before, so it was a very new experience.”

But being at the front of the queue had its benefits, including a greater selection of apartments to choose from.

“We had the option to take whatever apartment we liked, and we think we made a good choice,” Max says. “We’ve seen other apartments and they’re equally as good as ours, but the location suited us.”

It’s perhaps no surprise that Max, a keen lawn bowler, ended up in apartment just a few steps from the edge of the village’s new green.

Having aged care available on site if it’s required is another big plus, he says.

“As we meet our new neighbours they are, virtually to a person, very social and very engaging and it’s something to look forward to, to continue our association with them,” “I think it’s reassuring to know that whatever happens to Heather and I in the future – and we certainly hope that it’s all good – but in the event that something happens to one of us we’re going to be cared for.”

Moving out of the Mt Waverly home they built and lived in for 60 years was a big step, but Max and Heather

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are looking forward to a new lifestyle at Nellie Melba.

“As we meet our new neighbours they are, virtually to a person, very social and very engaging and it’s something to look forward to, to continue our association with them,” Max says.

Attending organised outings, morning and afternoon tea, and happy hours has been a great way to get to know people.

“I think, too, that the people who have come into the village, there’s a lot of common connection between their lifestyle and ours,” Max says.

“Most of them were relatively close neighbours of ours so I think we’ve been fortunate to come into the company of people of similar outlooks, similar backgrounds, similar values.”

The service reflected respect for those who have served.

The Long Road Home’s charity trek ends in Hanmer A memorial service to celebrate the end of The Long Road Home charity trek brought a tear to the eye for many involved in the walk, organised to raise awareness for post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI).

The early new year trek from St Arnaud in Marlborough along 110 km of high country station roads ended in Hanmer Springs, on January 12, with a memorial service at Soldier’s Block in the township.

Dozens of onlookers gathered at the block to hear accounts from the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Charitable Trust team that took part in the horseride and walk.

They had followed the route taken by soldiers returning from World War I, 100 years ago, but with the benefit of blue sky days and a support team.

Organisers Bernard Shapiro, Murray Hill and Mark Appleton, president of the NZMRT, said the group was raising funds for people suffering PTSI that had suffered as the result of traumatic events.

There were wreaths laid at the memorial on behalf of Ryman, a sponsor of the trust and its work.

The event remembered that soldiers

returning from WWI were often left to make their own way home. Many felt abandoned, hopeless and segregated from their fellow Kiwis after witnessing the horrors of war.

Mark said he now wanted to make the trek an annual event. The trust was also in contact with overseas groups, so the idea of supporting PTSI spread to countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.

PTSI continues to impact on the lives of soldiers that have served in arenas including Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, Timor and Afghanistan. “I think there are 800 people a year exiting our current forces … some of those will definitely be suffering from PTSI,” Mark said.

Hurunui Mayor Winton Dalley said

the venue for the trek’s conclusion at the Soldiers’ Block at Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer Springs was very fitting. “This is the only remaining WW1 Soldier Rehabilitation facility with its unique design still remaining.”

Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association Canterbury president Stan Hansen said the trust members and supporters were doing a great job to bring better awareness to PTSI and suicide prevention.

The National Anthem was sung by Rebecca Nelson who has sung at services in Gallipoli and for the All Blacks.

The use of horses by the trust fitted well with Ryman connection, Mark said. Village residents loved to connect with the friendly animals.

Wreaths were laid at the memorial service.

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Gemma Ballantyne is Ryman’s 2019 Cashin Scholarship winner.

Gemma wins the Cashin Scholarship Gemma Ballantyne's year has got off to the best start possible thanks to the 2019 Cashin Scholarship.

Gemma, 18, will use the scholarship to fund her pharmacy studies at the University of Otago in Dunedin.

She was thrilled to get the news.

“It's awesome to win. It means that it will ease the financial stress this year and allow me to focus on my studies so that I can be the best that I can be.”

Gemma has been part of the Ryman family since 2016, when she successfully applied for a job as a part-time receptionist at Anthony Wilding Retirement Village in Christchurch.

She says she loved the job from the very start.

“I was 16 and it was my first job and I couldn't have had a better place to work. I loved talking to the residents, they were always interested in what I was studying and it was like having 200 grandparents.”

In 2018 she began her first year at university, studying health sciences at Otago University. She worked at Yvette Williams Retirement Village in Dunedin part-time to support herself.

She found her first year tough, and had some health issues during

the year, but had a successful first year. She has opted for a pharmacy degree, which is another four years at university followed by an internship.

Her dad works for St John Ambulance and her mum works at a medical practice, so healthcare is in the family.

“I was 16 and it was my first job and I couldn't have had a better place to work. I loved talking to the residents, they were always interested in what I was studying and it was like having 200 grandparents.”

Gemma's looking forward to starting back at university and says the scholarship will be a big help with a busy year of learning ahead.

“I'm thrilled to win and I'm honoured that the Cashin family selected me,” Gemma says.

“I'm really grateful.”

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The Cashin Scholarship was set up in 2012 in memory of Mike Cashin, who was a Ryman director at the time of his death in 2010.

Each year Mike's family select the winner for the $5,000 award.

The scholarship is open to Ryman employees and their families who are taking on tertiary study.

Mike was a huge believer in the power of education to I improve lives, and the scholarship is intended to provide support for people who need it.

Blair Cashin, Mike's son, said the family wished Gemma all the best with her studies.

There were 100 applicants this year, a record for the scholarship.

Cashin Scholarship

Scholarship entries for 2020 open in October.

Residents Steve Costelow (left) and Bill Spiers (right) enjoying the festivities.

Celebrating Australia Day Weary Dunlop’s village centre was transformed into sea flags, patriotic costumes, banners and decorations as residents celebrated Australia Day with a traditional Aussie barbecue.

They enjoyed a sausage sizzle with a side of salad, before having their true-blue credentials tested by an Australian trivia quiz.

The Weary Dunlop singers then led a singalong of classic Australian tunes, which got the patriotic juices flowing

among residents and staff alike.

With everyone getting into the spirit of the occasion but donning their favourite Aussie garb, it was another wonderful celebration of the national day at the village.

We're growing fast in Victoria with two villages open and another seven to build, and many more to come!

Aberfeldie

Coburg Burwood East

Nellie Melba

Weary Dunlop

Geelong Ocean Grove

Mt Eliza Mt Martha

Key:

Ryman village

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Proposed village

Resident Diana Lach enjoying Triple A exercises.

Triple A Launches Nellie Melba residents are getting their hearts pumping with the launch of Ryman Healthcare’s Triple-A classes at the village.

Triple-A, which stands for Ageless, Active and Aware, began in the first week of February, with classes running twice a week.

Ryman’s activities and lifestyle coordinator, Chelsea Richdale, was on hand for the program’s launch, having already spoken to residents about the benefits of Triple-A when she visited the village late last year.

Helping prevent falls is a key aim of the classes.

“Triple-A is all about wellness, both emotional and physical,” Chelsea says.

“We have evidence that shows that Triple-A actually does improve physical wellbeing. It’s also huge for social and emotional wellness, and just for confidence in relation to falls as well.

“A lot of it is about, as we age, understanding our falls risk and understanding our body as it changes.

“We try and make it a full-body workout, so it’s strength and conditioning but also balance is huge, as well as upper and lower strength. We’re trying to work the full body so every part of the body gets adequate exercise.”

Chelsea says the classes have a strong social element, which has its own health benefits.

“It becomes part of residents’ daily routine. They come along to a class, they get to know the person they’re partnered

up with, who the other residents are who are coming along, and they get those social ties in our village community, which is really cool to see.”

Activities and lifestyle coordinator Chelsea Richdale.

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