Meet Elsie’s special family

For volunteer Fiona, her visits to see 95-year-old nursing home resident Elsie quickly turned into a family affair.

"My children, Tom and Meg, have become very attached to her and vice versa. They're like, 'Are you going to see Elsie, can we come too?' They see how lovely it is to be kind to someone like Elsie," says Fiona. "Elsie tells me, 'You're my special family.'"

Even Fiona's dog, Mia, is a regular visitor at the Tasmanian nursing home. "Mia's like a celebrity. All the residents love her."

The family marks all the big milestones with Elsie, like Christmas Day when they brought her home for a special morning tea. "When she turned 95 in December, we took her to a café. She said that was the best birthday she'd had for a long time."

It is very much a two-way friendship, says Fiona. "I wasn't expecting it to be like that. I thought it was going to be more me doing lots of things for Elsie. But she gives back a lot."

Like when Fiona's daughter, Meg, didn't pass her driver's license test. "Meg was quite upset. Elsie goes to her, 'That's why they invented pencils with rubbers at the end. They are there for you to rub out your mistakes, and then you can have another go.'

"She's wise. She gives them little bits of advice and words of wisdom, and they listen to what she says … I can't believe she's 95 years old. Her mind is so unbelievably sharp."

Fiona says that, lately, Elsie has not been as mobile as she was, and so they often spend their time together at the nursing home. "We find a nice spot and have a cuppa … She likes telling stories about her life. She talks a lot about her husband, her upbringing, people she's met.

"Often, I'll bring her some magazines, or she will have asked me to get some stamps. And my kids have been great with her with technology, how to do this and how to do that.

“We chat with other residents as well. Even though Elsie's our person, there are other people we've got to know. She introduces us as 'This is my family.'"

Fiona says the first time they met, she and Elsie discovered they had much in common. They both grew up in the same country town and had travelled around Australia managing hotels.

They care a lot about each other, she says. "I think it's given her more of a will to live. That sounds pretty deep, but I know how much she looks forward to seeing us; it's giving her more purpose in life.

"Elsie always says, 'You make me feel so happy. I love seeing you, it's such a highlight.' I say it back to her because it's the same for me, 'I get so much joy out of seeing you.'"

Fiona says she hopes her story inspires other people to volunteer, too.

While Australian Government funding helps us deliver the Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme, the generosity of people like you is crucial to ensure we can even provide such programs in the first place. Because without supporters like you, we couldn't be there for the people who need us most, 24/7, 365 days a year.