Service FinderWalk your way to wellbeing
A number of our fabulous walking groups held celebrations together at the end of 2023 and have some lovely photos to share.
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The Up & Atom walking group in Colonel Light Gardens was first established in 2018 when new ECH resident and volunteer, Dave, knocked on all his neighbours’ doors to introduce himself and ask if they would like to join a new walking group.
Five years on, they continue to walk three mornings a week – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays – with neighbours from the wider community joining in, and often finish with coffee at the local Bond and Lane Café, where they’re well known. |
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Meet the Burnside Explorers! This walking group meets twice a week, ably led by Gill and Chris, and enjoys walking at a pace (and incline!) for those that are able with a (slightly) slower group taking a modified route. Every six weeks they rotate to a new location to “keep it fresh”. Coffee to finish is always a highlight.
One of the group members reported “Walking with poles has meant I can keep moving and socialising, which is so necessary, despite the hips playing up.” |
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Victor Harbour’s walking group Young at Heart celebrated the end of the year with a breakfast where Geraldine gave a lovely thank you speech.
Led by volunteer walkers Bruce and Anna, the walking group walks twice a week as it helps their fitness as well as creating social connections. They enjoy different walk routes to keep it interesting and the coffee stop at the end is the icing on the cake. |
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Members of our Glenelg walking group, Mindwalkers spent early December walking quietly and mindfully along the beach to Somerton and back to The Broadway Café for coffee.
One of the walkers said “I’ve had a lot of health problems in my life, but do you know what has helped me the most and been the best medicine? Socialising.” We are very privileged to hear that friendships and caring communities are flourishing through our walking groups. |
If you are looking for a way to keep active, why not consider joining one of the ECH walking groups? They are a great way to exercise, meet like-minded people and maintain good heart health.
Walking groups are currently active in various locations across metropolitan Adelaide and Victor Harbor.
To register your interest, email communityengagement@ech.asn.au
All aboard the ECH bus!
Clients and residents have been all over Adelaide experiencing some great activities together.
Participants on our College Grove, Walkerville bus trip visited the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, marvelled at the bulbous bottle tree then stopped for morning tea at Evergreen Café.
Afterwards, they drove to the Barossa Valley followed for a tasty, two course meal at the Vine Inn.
There was just enough time for a stop at the Barossa Valley Chocolate Company for some sweet, retail therapy
Almond Grove residents and clients on our Morphett Vale bus trip were beaming after our latest mystery bus trip to the Adeliade Hills with driver John and peer connector Trevor.
The group visited Karkoo Nursery and Café where client Paul bought his latest fruit tree. Afterwards, they went to Melba’s Chocolates Factory, Charleston Hotel and finished the trip at Mount Lofty Summit.
“It was such a lovely day and everyone enjoyed it immensely” says resident Felicity.
Want to know what trips are coming up soon? View all upcoming bus trips.
Join an intergenerational playgroup
Looking for a way to give back to the community? Intergenerational playgroups provide the chance for ‘grandfriends’ to enjoy play-based activities with preschool aged children.
These supervised sessions allow you to focus on fun and building relationships with the children through activities such as crafts, story time, gardening and baking.
Monthly sessions will be held at Green Leaves Early Learning Centres in Bowden, Newton, West Lakes and Mawson Cascades, starting in late March.
To learn more or register your interest, email communityengagement@ech.asn.au
Become a volunteer bus driver
If you like socialising and making new friends then ECH would love to hear from you. Our volunteer bus drivers drive clients and residents on day trips supported by ECH staff. This volunteer position is vital in connecting our clients to engage socially with others as well as experience new activities and outings in the community.
*Drivers need to hold a minimum LR licence and have experience driving buses.
Encore art group
With an abundance of natural light coming through the South facing windows of the Art Room at Encore Apartments, it’s the perfect space for anyone to enjoy learning or sharing various mediums of art together. Facilitated by Pat Wundersitz, Community Engagement Peer Connector, Pat also encourages participants of the Encore art group to share their knowledge and love of art with each other, and facilitate a workshop themselves.
There is still room around the table for a few more people to join this friendly, creative group – you don’t need to be an Encore resident.
Happy days at Happy Valley Day Program
Clients at our Happy Valley Day Program have been taking advantage of the warmer weather and have started working on restoring a wooden bench together. The group have been sanding and repainting the wooden bench green and purple to add a splash of colour to the gardening area.
Join the ECH volunteer team
Do you want to make a difference? Volunteers have provided tremendous support to ECH ever since it was established back in 1964. Thanks to the ongoing commitment from volunteers ECH has been able to offer our clients additional support and benefits such as increased independence and the opportunity of building long-lasting friendships.
The ECH volunteer program prides itself on offering volunteers a diverse variety of roles and activities and is flexible in meeting the needs of its clients and its volunteers, creating opportunities based on the interests of both.
Submit your artwork
Are you an artist and want to share your artwork? Send a photo of your art to keepconnected@ech.asn.au for the chance to be featured in our next quarterly calendar.
Submit your news
Do you have a hobby, milestone or news you would like to share? Let us know at keepconnected@ech.asn.au
Posted: March 14, 2024