With NSW finally reaching the 70% COVID-19 vaccination rate, Afford Community Centres are starting to resume group services and welcome back many smiling faces across the state. It is exciting to start to see all the amazing programs across our sites getting back into full swing.
Afford Community Centres are hubs of activity where clients are encouraged to learn new skills, find creative ways to express themselves and keep active.
“It has been great to see clients returning to their community centres. In the first week back, we have already had 206 clients return. During the pandemic, our attendance rates were around 40% but we were already up to 60% attendance last week alone,” said National Executive Manager for Community Centres, Wayne Adamson.
At Wollongong Community Centre, food has always been a great way to socialise so the team celebrated with their favourite takeaway.
“We decided to have a pizza party to ring in the return of our clients. Everyone was able to reconnect with one another after such a long time and they enjoyed putting up decorations around the centre. Our clients had a blast,” said Lifestyle Assistant, Mitchell Hilton.
Many of the clients at Bonnyrigg Community Centre cannot get enough of their arts and crafts, so they put their creative caps on and tied up their aprons to enjoy a group arts and crafts session. They used a mixture of finger painting and tactical fabrics to create a group art piece they are proud to share.
“Our clients who receive group-based care returned on Tuesday and were reunited with their friends for their in-house activities. Others took advantage of being able to reaccess the community with an adventure to the beach,” said Senior Lifestyle Assistant, Maika Dauniika.
Cherrywood Community Centre also took advantage of the Greater Sydney travel restrictions being lifted with a trip to Bondi Beach. Despite the weather being a little gloomy, our clients’ smiles brightened the atmosphere and the group enjoyed being back together.
“Everyone missed each other so much. The clients were excited as soon as they got to the community centre. We are like a big family so there were so many stories to share on the drive to Bondi and back,” said Lifestyle Assistant, Mimi Ocampo.
Find out more about Afford Community Centres and how you can start expressing your passions, making memories with friends and having new adventures.
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