PALLIATIVE Care WA is supporting a group of volunteers keen to establish a free service scribing the life stories of people in aged or palliative care.
The Last Word founder Wayne Currall said the service would use the skills of writers (professional or self-taught) interested in writing the life stories of older people who may not have the skills or may not be well enough to write their own story.
Mr Currall has worked as a journalist most of his life, starting a few publications (including Community News’ Eastern Reporter) and working for The West Australian and The Sunday Times as both a writer and sub-editor in sport.
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“When I finished working full-time a couple of years ago I looked around for some voluntary work,” he said.
“I wanted to give something back to the community. I came across a palliative biography service in the eastern states that used the talents of volunteers to document the life stories of people in retirement homes or in palliative care.
“Seemed like a great idea, but there’s no such service in WA. That’s why we’re trying to get something up and running here.”
Mr Currall said there seemed to be an appetite to establish the writing service in WA.
It would be essential to provide appropriate training to the volunteer writers and develop tight guidelines for the visiting and writing processes.
An inaugural meeting of the group is being held at Palliative Care WA, 15 Bedbrook Place, Shenton Park, on Thursday, May 23, 10am-11am.
Those interested in attending or seeking further information are invited to email wayne.thelastword@gmail.com.