Barbara’s story: the joy of volunteering
Sometimes the planets align and that’s certainly what happened when Barbara, a chemistry teacher at Saint Kentigern College, became an assessor for the Duke of Edinburgh and International Baccalaureate Service Awards. She used to visit her dad who was in care at HBH Senior Living. Originally from the UK, Barbara knew that HBH was a special place from the care that her dad was receiving. “HBH has a real heart, and they are very skilled at caring for the whole person, including their physical, mental, social and emotional needs,” she says. “Dad was very happy there.”
As luck would have it, Saint Kentigern College were looking for a new person to lead their volunteering programme at HBH and Barbara leapt at the chance. “All teaching staff need to be involved in an extracurricular activity and this was the perfect fit for me,” she explains. So, after Barbara finishes teaching her chemistry classes, she heads to HBH with a group of student volunteers to care and learn from our residents.
Different student groups visit the residents two to three times a week, and Barbara can see how much the residents love these visits. While volunteering is often seen as helping those in need, the benefits to the volunteer are just as rewarding and important, while it also brings much-needed support to charitable organisations like HBH.
“The students get so much out of it, and for some of them it has led them to forming closer relationships with their own family members,” she notes. “One girl said to me that she now wants to talk more to her grandma. I think it teaches them the importance of valuing the relationships they have.”
Finding the perfect match
Barbara says preparing the students thoroughly for the experience of volunteering is important. “Some of them have had very little to do with older people and it can be quite confronting for them to begin with,” she says. She carefully matches students with the residents she thinks they’ll have something in common with, to help get the relationship off to a good start.
She also teaches students how to use questions to prompt a conversation and briefs them on the Eden Alternative philosophy which is central to life at HBH. “It’s important that the students understand the Eden philosophy and how it works in a practical sense,” says Barbara. “Eden shows that every person matters, regardless of how old they are or what challenges they face, and I think this is one of the most important things the students learn from volunteering at HBH,” she says. “They also love the fact that a resident can have access to the communal pets if they want too!”
Coping with loss, learning skills in conversation and forming new relationships are just some of the many skills the students acquire through the volunteering scheme but more importantly, says Barbara, it teaches them kindness and compassion. “I keep reminding the students that the residents have done so much living and that’s what makes them so interesting. One lovely woman said to a student, in my head I’m still 18, but then I look at my legs and I’m reminded I’m 90!”
From volunteering to visiting
Over time, the visits become less about volunteering, and more about spending time with someone the students care about, says Barbara. “One of our students loved visiting a man who only spoke Spanish. She would sit on the floor next to him and they would have a lovely time. However, she hadn’t considered that he might die and was devastated when he did,” she explains.
“We are so fortunate to have a charitable, aged care provider like HBH Group available to residents of our local community, where care is first and foremost,” says Barbara. “The students get to know people who used to live in their neighbourhoods. It’s a reminder that time passes, and that people matter, no matter how old they are.”