Providing food and comfort
Retirement village reforms
Volunteers are at the heart of Nepean Food Services and its work in Penrith
Glad Simonis with Stuart Ayres tate Penrith MP Stuart Ayres this week met with local resident Glad Simonis to discuss the benefits and features of the new package of reforms for retirement village residents that were recently announced by the State Government. Minister for Better Regulation, Matt Kean, said the package includes a fourpoint plan that will put consumers first and protect residents from potentially dodgy practices. “Retirees have worked hard their whole life so I’ll be coming down on any operators who have not complied with the law,” he said. “This plan will put consumers first by making contracts more transparent, giving residents the tools to compare costs, and cracking down on providers through a compliance blitz.” Mr Ayres said the plan also includes an inquiry that will make sure residents have the protections they deserve, while ensuring retirement village operators are complying with the law. Kathryn Greiner will head the inquiry, which examines all registered retirement villages across NSW, and their compliance with the Retirement Villages Act 1999. “This inquiry will safeguard the rights of residents in Penrith retirement villages, and be tough on those who take advantage of our seniors,” Mr Ayres said. “Our retirees have made so many valuable contributions to the Penrith community; they deserve to live fulfilling, independent lives in the village of their choosing. “These measures will work to bolster transparency and give current and future retirement village residents the details they need to make the most informed choice.”
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Naozer Contractor is one of the many volunteers who bring warm smiles and delicious meals to clients each week. Photo: Emily Newton EMILY NEWTON
he laughter and love of over 90 local volunteers at Nepean Food Services is being recognised this National Meals on Wheels Day on Wednesday, August 30. With over 500 clients in the area, Nepean Food Services will deliver in excess of 50,000 meals annually, but a meal delivery is so much more than just food. Service Co-ordinator, Ellen Pearce, said the introduction of social clubs has seen amazing feedback as clients are taken out for food and the chance to have a chat, giggle and sing-along. “With our social clubs, they really help to save people from isolation,” Ms Pearce said. “I did have one lady say one time that
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she felt as though she lived in a cemetery, she was so lonely. “But she was so happy when our bus would turn up and pick her up, she really enjoyed the outings.” With seven different clubs running, including special events, brunch and breakfast, clients have enjoyed it so much that they have began calling to ask when the next event is. Nepean Food Services Operations Manager, Ditte Kozak, said the success of the social club is thanks to their volunteers. “We’ve got these lovely volunteers that go out and make it a happy occasion where they can go out and have fun,” Ms Kozak said. “Because this is a growing experience, people who are isolated and sitting in their own homes want to get out and have a social experience.
“It’s grown threefold over the last year, so we’ve got people waiting to come on and we can’t do it because we haven’t got enough buses.” With a waiting list as the popularity continues to grow, Ms Kozak hopes to fundraise to buy another bus to help event more clients. But ultimately the joy of the events clients experience comes from the volunteers who always put in the extra effort. “They make it fun for our clients, our wonderful volunteers are great, we couldn’t provide these services without them,” Ms Kozak said. “The volunteers will also go in when delivering meals and do a little wellness check on our clients.” This year Nepean Food Services celebrates 25 years servicing the Penrith area while NSW Meals on Wheels celebrates its 60th diamond anniversary.
the western weekender » Friday, August 25, 2017
Community
Event
Competitors fly in from around the world for Championships EMILY NEWTON
enrith’s iFly Downunder welcomed over 150 competitors for the 2017 Australian Indoor Skydiving Championships last weekend. “This was the biggest indoor skydiving event ever to be held in Australia,” Indoor Skydive’s Cheryl Dawson said. “It was the third annual Australian Indoor Skydiving Championships and the first to be spread over two days due to the size.” With competitors aged from seven to 68-years-old, skydiving is fun for just
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about anyone as the sport rapidly grows in popularity within Australia. Inside the vertical wind tunnel entrants performed with speed, skill and precision as competitive skydivers displayed their perfectly refined aerobatic abilities. “Along with all of the best indoor skydivers from across Australia, we also had flyers over from Singapore, including Junior Freestyle World Champion and five time Guinness World Record holder Kyra Poh, competing in four categories,” Ms Dawson said. “The level of competition was absolutely phenomenal. There was a huge turnout for the event of both competitors and specta-
Team Air Goddess was one of the teams that competed as a group. Photo: Kate Reid tors, and the excitement and ambience was incredible. “This event was yet another stepping stone to making the sport of indoor
skydiving included in the Olympics.” Since opening a number of years ago outside Panthers, iFly Downunder has been a major tourism hit for Penrith.
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