Welcome everyone to our first e-newsletter. As part of our ongoing efforts to keep you all connected, Life News will now be distributed digitally to all members.

As social distancing becomes the new 'norm', we wanted to say thank you - to our Clubs that have been reaching out and keeping in contact with their Members. Sometimes just a phone call can brighten up someone's day.

My deepest sympathies go to our members who have lost loved ones and friends from COVID-19 and to the families and friends of some of our members who have succumbed to the virus (remarkably few, I am pleased to say).

I guess there aren’t too many of our members who remember previous times of disease inspired isolation, such as Spanish Flu after WW1, but I’m sure there are some who remember the Polio epidemic before the vaccine saved us younger ones from the ravages of paralysis?

So at this time of isolation in 2020 we are so lucky to have all the technology advances available to help us cope! Certainly I have learned new things such as Zoom but also FaceTime and a few other technologies that I hadn’t used before. It has also been nice to get back to the ‘old fashioned’ hobbies of jigsaws, knitting and other craft, baking and even bread making, which seems to have taken off.

From talking to the leaders of our Life Activities Clubs (LACs) and reading the articles in Life News, it seems they have tried hard to keep the members engaged during this difficult time. Now our Victorian Premier is slowly lifting restrictions and many activities can be restarted, albeit with a few safe distancing measures thrown in!

LACVI’s Board understands the ‘hit’ LACs have encountered this year and have substantially reduced their fees to allow Clubs to think about how to compensate their members in the upcoming new financial year. I’m sure you will all be receiving some good news from your own Club soon.  

My best wishes to you all and enjoy getting back together with your LAC friends and getting out of the house and those trackie daks!

Survey’s were distributed to more than 4,000 members in May 2019.  We received 871 responses including 630 in hardcopy and 241 online. That makes a 22% response rate which was most gratifying. We awarded 10 respondents with Myer vouchers.  Many thanks to all of you who responded and to RMIT University for data in-put and analysis.

Who’s on-line?
Only 3% do not own any sort of digital device. A large number (92%) use the internet, mostly for searching for or finding information. Whereas only 45% have social media accounts.

Travel anyone?
Of our respondents, 81% indicated their intention to travel in the following 12 months – 58% within Victoria; 62% within Australia; and 49% overseas.  

We hope you managed to get your trips in before the bushfires and coronavirus interrupted your plans? Hopefully Victorian and wider Australian fire ravaged communities will benefit from the lifting of restrictions and also our cousins ‘across the ditch’ in New Zealand, as we spread our wings once more.

As we come out of lockdown, some older people will face challenges re-engaging with their communities. Have your say on our future work around COVID-19 by taking COTA’s online survey.

Over the past few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected the lives of older people. Victoria is now entering a new phase of the pandemic as lockdown measures are relaxed. But we know this is not the end of the journey – many older people will continue to face challenges as they re-engage with their communities. To make sure their needs are met, we need to keep up our strong advocacy.
We’re urgently seeking your feedback to inform our future work around COVID-19.

We’ll use it to:
• decide how best to support older Victorians over the coming months as restrictions ease
• help the Victorian Government plan for future emergencies by sharing what could have been done better to support older people in the response to COVID-19.

Take our online survey now – it should only take you a few minutes. If you have trouble accessing the online survey but would still like to provide feedback, please contact our Policy Officer, Lauren Henley, by phone on 9655 2140, or by email at lhenley@cotavic.org.au

Survey: www.surveymonkey.com/r/H2JD6KL

The Victorian Seniors Festival reimagined

Challenges in life can bring innovations and opportunities. I am delighted to say that the reimagined 2020 Seniors Festival is a great example.

Many people will be aware of the Victorian Seniors Festival as a month-long event run every October. In 2020 due to coronavirus it was not possible to plan for large public events in October. And so, our 38th Festival has been reimagined.

The 2020 Seniors Festival reimagined commenced on
May 1 and is delivered in an exciting new way. Performances and entertainment come directly to festival goers at home, through Seniors Online at www.seniorsonline.vic.gov.au/festivalsandawards

There is a library there with new performances added each week until 31 October. Each video contains an interview with the artist and a live performance, recorded on mobile phones at home. A Festival production team puts it all together.

The list of talent is both inspiring and diverse. Names like Kutcha Edwards, the Gram O Phonie brothers, Jane Clifton, Deborah Cheetham and Wendy Stapleton are a small teaser for you.

And we know many seniors love radio. Community radio stations, including Golden Days 95.7 are producing radio plays, serials, poetry and prose as well as concerts with music of the 40s, 50s and 60s, reflecting the interests of our senior demographic. These will be available for streaming or as podcasts via Seniors Online. The Festival will advise schedules and availability in late July, and new radio programs will be added right through to 31October.

For the first time both video and radio content will be available for streaming and podcast access in residential aged care homes across Victoria.  

I congratulate all those involved in putting together the 2020 Seniors Festival reimagined.

Article by: Gerard Mansour, Commisioner for Senior Victorians.

Deb comes to LACVI after spending 15 years working within creative agencies in various roles ranging from design to print production and studio management.

Deb is encouraged and motivated by people that have a drive to keep active as it promotes happiness within themselves. Staying connected and keeping involved reinforces positive growth and that’s the message that Deb enjoys promoting through her role at LACVI.

Member Profile with... Michael Hall

My name is Michael Hall and I live in Mount Eliza with my wife Jenny. We are both members of the Mornington Life Activities Club. Jenny holds the position of Treasurer and I am on the management Committee. We have both been members for the last five years.

I am the convenor for the Walking Group (started in Feb 2017). We started with five members and now we have twenty nine names on our list. Our walking takes us to various locations on the Peninsula every Tuesday morning, meeting at 9.15am to avoid the school traffic. Some of the locations include Frankston foreshore, Briars at Mt Martha, Mt Eliza and the Hastings foreshore.

By Michael Hall, Mornington LAC

Around the Bay Challenge with... Reg Goodings

On 6th October 2019 Reg Goodings, our much loved Casey/Cardinia LAC member, took part in Australia’s biggest bike ride ‘Around the Bay’. At 88 years young, Reg was the oldest of the 8,000 competitors and completed the 100km ride in good time.

He rode with 8 members of his regular riding club the Cardinia Bicycle User Group (BUGS) and was also in the top ten fundraisers, raising just short of $1,300 for the Smith Family with many of our members sponsoring Reg for which he was very grateful.

Reg started cycling when he was 85 years old and joined the local Bicycle User Group in Pakenham.

By Susan Brooks, Casey/Cardinia LAC

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