by Cam Lucadou-Wells
After retiring as a bus driver, David Weedon has volunteered to bring cheer to residents at a Dandenong aged care home for 17 years.
Each week, the 72-year-old former Ventura and SEC worker from Dandenong North runs a footy tipping competition and a weekly men’s activities group at Mercy Place home.
He puts in up to 20 hours a week, sometimes up to five days.
It all started when he responded to an ad at a shopping centre to volunteer at the then-Southern Cross Care home in 2008.
Until recently, he also took residents out for drives in a mini-bus to Lysterfield Lake, the Dandenongs and other scenic spots – until he broke his patella in a fall.
He says the mens group has a vital social role for residents.
“We chat and play cards and games like carpet bowls. It’s just to get men talking to other men.
“I find when I go to the home, they open up to me as another male.”
David says many people don’t understand what it’s like for aged care residents – many of whom are unable to go out much due to their state of health.
Some of them don’t get many visits from family or friends, he says.
“It’s a huge change for them to go from their home, from their family or husband or wife, and to be put in a single room on their own with nurses and staff that they don’t know.
“Just when you say ‘how you going?’, their faces light up because someone is showing a bit of interest.”
David would like to see more people volunteer their time. During the Covid lockdowns, volunteers were put on hold at Mercy Place. Many haven’t come back
“I’ve got to the stage where I can’t keep going forever.
“I guess younger people don’t have time to volunteer. They have their own lives to lead – but it leaves a big hole.”
He believes in the “old cliché” that what you put in as a volunteer, you get back two-fold.
“It’s true because when you come in and say hello, you see the look in their eyes and the smile on their face. You become good friends.
“If you can provide a little bit of comfort coming in as a volunteer, it makes a big difference.”
