“I started volunteering by singing at Corangamarah and now I help with all sorts of activities like bingo,” Mrs Stevenson said.

“I love all the different people you get to meet, I’d recommend it to anyone,” she said.

Colac Area Health hosted a morning tea yesterday to celebrate National Volunteers Week.

Corangamarah aged care centre volunteer Pauline Goonan said she had given her time for more than 50 years.

“I play the piano and organ for the residents both at the front area as well as the dementia ward,” Mrs Goonan said.

“And I don’t play rock and roll, I play ‘40s music that they can relate to and you can see how much they enjoy it,” she said.

Colac’s Sylvia Price said she had recently signed up to volunteer at Corangamarah.

“I’ve helping out unofficially for quite some time because I used to come in every day to visit my husband, and while I was here I’d help with the games and activities,” Mrs Price said.

“I enjoyed it so much that I decided to make it official and become a volunteer,” she said.

CAH volunteer co-ordinator Karen Aucote said the organisation’s volunteers were essential.

“We have 107 people registered as volunteers right across Colac Area Health, and we couldn’t do the work we do without them,” she said.

The story is courtesy of The Colac Herald