Welcome dear friends, family and readers to issue #22 of the Lively Gazette!
We hope those who celebrate the holiday had a fabulous Easter, and that those who do not enjoyed a relaxing and refreshing long weekend break, regardless – not least with the tempting abundance of chocolate floating around! Personally, my favourite Easter break family tradition is melting all the chocolate eggs over the stovetop and dipping skewered strawberries in! Perhaps an idea for all those readers now stuck with a bit of a surplus 😋🍫🍓.
We hope you enjoy reading this month's edition of the Gazette and as always, if you are inspired by the Lively Tales, please share your experiences with us in this form here!
Roger and Ann: a perfect balance of work and play 🪗🍃
“Today Roger and I cleared ferns in an area of the front garden. Then we planted and rearranged a few plants and daffodils, we can't wait to see what it looks like when spring comes!
I helped with weeding as well as taking down the tomato plants. We picked a few tomatoes, strawberries and figs to have at tea time.
Roger gave me a tour of his dear 'Angel' accordion and played a few tunes. What a lovely Tuesday!”
– Words from Lively Helper, Ann
John and Hannah: a perfect Northcote outing 🍕🍿
“In this session, John and I had a little outing! I picked him up at 2pm and we headed over to the Palace Westgarth in Northcote. There, we watched the French film, ‘The Innocents’, which was definitely a quirky but intense and enjoyable film for both of us. We then moseyed on over to a restaurant and shared some pizza for dinner - photo attached - before heading home for the night. Such a lovely session!”
– Words from Lively Member, Hannah
Antoinette and Issy’s garden maintenance 🌼🗿
“Antoinette and I had a lovely day together! We got to know each other as we worked in the garden, and got lots of jobs done. We cleaned a statue in the garden and planted new flowers around it, moved and repotted some flowers around the garden, and then began weeding and digging up a veggie patch.”
– Words from Lively Member, Issy
Jean McKendry Neighbourhood Centre: figs and photograph fun
“I just finished my last several shifts at Jean McKendry Neighbourhood Centre, which is part of the City of Melbourne's Community Tech Help program. It's really nice to meet all our lovely Members and partners again.
One of my Members is a photographer. He is very kind and humorous. I helped him with accessing his company email and taking photos with his phone. He was very excited as he used to take photos with cameras but now he could also do that with his phone. During our last session, he gave me a book of his photographs. The photos were taken decades ago and they're like a time machine, which allows me to take a peek at Australia in the last century.
I also met Farhad again at the centre. He was our partner at South Yarra Senior Citizen Centre last year. He came to Jean McKendry Neighbourhood Centre the other day and shared his self-grown figs with us. It's really good to meet him again and the figs are yum! :)”
– Words from Lively Helper, Xinran
Hiring at Lively: exciting things to come!
The Lively Hiring Team is currently looking for new Helpers in the Darebin/Merri-bek area. Employment at Lively is a unique opportunity, treasured by both current (speaking to the left) and past (speaking below right) Helpers of Lively. If you have a friend, sibling, grandchild, niece or nephew who you think fits the bill and would enjoy the experience, please direct them to this link and encourage them to apply! Applications for our May intake have been extended to 5pm Friday 28 April, so there's still time to apply if you get in soon! And if you miss this one, there'll be another intake opening shortly thereafter.
Hear it first hand from a new Lively Helper: "I’m loving working at Lively so far! It’s such an engaging job, and I’ve already starting forming some great relationships with my members. I was initially worried about how early sessions would go, but having goals and activities to complete each sessions gives us both a solid foundation to pass the time, and conversation flows easily from that. I’d recommend this job to anyone who wants to form intergenerational relationships, or even just wants to spend a few hours gardening and chatting!"
– Words from New Lively Helper, Issy
Members - lend us your brains!
One of our core beliefs at Lively is that our Helpers and Members know their own needs best, and should always have a strong voice in shaping Lively's services to meet those needs. Over the last few years, we've been putting lots of effort into boosting the voices of our Helpers... and now it's time for us pour some love into doing the same with our Members!
Over the next few months, we'll have lots of opportunities for Members to connect with the Lively team and offer their direct feedback, ideas and suggestions for how we can continue to evolve. First up, we'll be running three co-design sessions in the Darebin Council area - dates and venues are TBC, but look out for further details in your inbox over the coming weeks. After that, we're excited to be setting up an ongoing 'Member Brains Trust' - a group of Lively Members who will meet regularly and help us think through opportunities, challenges, and the direction that Lively should take to best realise our vision. Compensation for the valuable experience, knowledge and ideas that Members bring to this group will of course be offered.
If you're a Member and think you'd be interested in these opportunities, feel free to reach out and register your interest (hello@lively.org.au). Otherwise, keep an eye out for further details and invitations in the months to come!
– Words from Lively Founder & CEO, Anna
Congratulations to Lively Member, Mick!
This month’s talking point congratulates the achievements of Lively Member Mick Cairns. His artwork, titled A Slice of Sydney (pictured below), was recently selected for The Bundoora Homestead Art Gallery’s Art Salon Exhibition. What an amazing achievement! Mick (pictured with his Helper Ann below) often creates art work. Ann tells us how she helps Mick photograph his artworks and how fun it is “playing with composition, cropping and rotation”. If we have any other keen artists, professional or recreational, in our Lively community, please do not hesitate to share them with us through this link. We would love to showcase pieces such as Mick’s this month and Janna’s last month in our Lively Gazettes! Congratulations again Mick!
April Pearl of Wisdom
Are you a Member, Helper or Friend of Lively with a pearl of wisdom (life tip or inspiring quote) or any content ideas for the Lively Gazette that you’d like to share with us? We'd love your contribution! Please email us at stories@lively.org.au if you would like to feature anything in the next edition!
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