ORELIA resident Maureen Powell has rekindled her love for a niche hobby.
The 80-year-old has built a worm farm at Kwinana’s Bethanie Social Centre and makes it her mission to maintain it.
Ms Powell visits the centre twice a week to feed the worms.
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READ NOW“I love coming to the centre,” Ms Powell said.
“It keeps me occupied and I enjoy meeting other people with similar interests to me.”
Maureen had a worm farm in 1996, after her husband passed away, but found it hard to manage on her own.
“I wanted to do something that kept my mind off things – I had the farm until 2000,” she said.
“I bring veggie scraps from home and have requested Bethanie get a compost bin, which they are in the process of getting.”
Kwinana’s Bethanie Social Centre hosts 10 to 18 active clients per day.
The objective was to keep the centre’s visitors social and meeting with others with similar interests.
Bethanie chief executive Chris How said there was a need for people in aged care to feel connected.
“Social isolation is a well-established risk factor and trigger for depression and anxiety, and where possible we want to avoid that,” he said.
“It is important that the community recognises that social isolation is not just about people living on their own; it can occur for people living at home, in villages and even in residential care.
“We have a level of responsibility to make this a priority, we don’t want anyone to feel alone.”
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