Riverview Gardens Aged Care Centre Celebrates its 51st Anniversary
In 1972, Riverview Gardens Aged Care Centre (“Riverview Gardens”) opened its doors to residents. Since then, the last 51 years have been filled with joy, fun, friendships and of course many fond memories to reminisce on.
One of the Centre’s Lifestyle Coordinator, Penny, has been working at the Centre for just over 23 years and is proud to tell of the special place that it is. She looks after the nursing home and the Fairhaven site and, reflecting on the Centre’s longevity in the community, she says, “we are one of the older nursing homes, but when you walk around it’s just homely. You just feel very at home.”
For Penny, her time at the Centre has brought with it a supportive family environment amongst the staff and residents. “The staff here are truly fantastic; they’re so caring to the residents. Trish [the Centre Manager] is a fantastic Manager. The residents are constantly telling you how happy they are here. Families are telling you how happy mum and dad are.”
Penny affirms that she gets just as much out of her work as the residents do. She expresses her gratitude and reflects on how she learns so much from the residents and the stories they tell. “I just love spending time with residents; that is really enjoyable for me. They have all lived lovely lives. It is just amazing, you know, you don’t realise what some of them have done and when you sit down and talk to them, you think, whoa!”
Deborah has recently joined the Centre in January as the Lifestyle Coordinator for the Hostel and she acknowledges the Centre’s warm and friendly atmosphere. “The ambience of the whole Centre; it is so different. I just think it’s a wonderful Centre. I have only been here 10 months and I am just in awe of it.”
Deborah shares a love for her work, much like Penny. “I just love my job,” Deborah says. “I just love making the residents happy and doing lots of different things for them.” Like Penny, Deborah also finds the Centre a tight-knit family. “I’ve just found it’s homely. Everyone works together and we’ve really bonded as a team.”
For the Riverview Gardens Chef Sue, from Catering Industries, she has been at the Centre for five years and whilst she has worked in 5-star restaurants, she finds so much reward in providing delicious meals for the residents. “I’ve been a chef for 20-plus years, and I just love seeing the residents’ faces when you show them that you care about them,” she says.
“They are extremely grateful for what we do for them and seeing them happy is my job,” she goes on to say. Chef Sue considers her work a labour of love, noting, “it’s our job to be there for them for the last journey of their life, so every little bit counts, and I just love cooking and I love doing it for our residents.”
