LUKE Garswood wants to make Connect Victoria Park into a central point for older people in the community.
The organisation’s chief executive has welcomed $50,000 of funding per year during the next three years from the Town of Victoria Park for the Village Hub project.
The proposal would see the organisation expand its services and create the first Village Hub in WA.
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READ NOW“The money will allow us to employ a village hub co-ordinator and it will involve the creation of activities and resources such as information about reliable tradespeople, local health information, power of attorney, wills and more,” Mr Garswood said.
“The activities will be designed on what they want, whether that’s more tai chi like we already run or if it’s special activities.”
Mr Garswood said he hoped the project would help older people with the challenges they faced.
“Older people are often treated as one group but there are two or three generations of people and their needs vary,” he said.
“We know that as people age they experience challenges such as social isolation, maintaining purpose or losing their partner and so we think they need a service that meets their needs.
“The base numbers of older people in Victoria Park is increasing and as density increases there will be more older people living here.”
Mr Garswood said although they only had funding for three years from January 1, he anticipated that the project would continue afterwards.
Town of Victoria Park Mayor Trevor Vaughan said the objectives of the Village Hub were aligned with the World Health Organisation’s Age Friendly principles and would assist the council to demonstrate that it was a leader in supporting the local ageing population.
“More than 22 per cent of the Town’s population are aged 55 plus, with population projections indicating that there will be up to 12,800 members of the community in this age bracket by 2036,” he said.
Among the goals of the Village Hub are to:
Become a contact problems to solve issues impacting members’ independent living and well-being Provide access to affordable physical, creative and social activities Provide access to resources and information on relevant issues r Link to local volunteers who can provide small amounts of help Support referral to specialist home care providers, aged care and assessment services.
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