Every Friday morning, Werribee’s Bill Hardy pops down to Baptcare Wyndham Lodge aged care centre and has a chin-wag with Barry Reid.
Sometimes they talk about news and current events, other times they’ll watch a movie together.
Whatever the activity, Friday mornings are a highlight for Mr Reid, who has lived at the aged care home for the past five years.
Mr Reid is a beneficiary of the community visitor scheme (CVS), which pairs volunteers with aged care centre residents who have little or no family and friends to keep in touch.
Mr Hardy, who also visits another Baptcare resident weekly, said everyone has an interesting story to tell.
“We’re all going to finish up somewhere like this, and I really hope, when the time comes, someone will come and visit me,” Mr Hardy said.
The CVS is run by various organisations around Victoria, including Multiple Sclerosis Australia, which runs the Wyndham service.
The program is not exclusive to MS sufferers – rather, it exists to provide socially isolated recipients with a like-minded volunteer, who visits them for friendship and to reduce their social isolation.
MS Australia is keen to find more volunteers in the Point Cook area. MS community visitors scheme manager Esis Tawfik said volunteers must be able to visit people at least once a fortnight.
“This is an incredibly important service that is simple and easy to be involved in,” Ms Tawfik said.
For more information about the CVD, email cvsrecruitment@ms.org.au or call Annie on 9845 2729.
