In a first for Holdfast Bay, more than 30 ‘senior’ members of the community have shared their life experiences, wisdom and tips for success with high school ‘seniors’, via a video titled Seniors for Seniors.
The intergenerational community project was inspired by the recent ABC program, Old People’s ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ for Teenagers, and features 35 Holdfast Bay seniors from all walks of life, including residents from Alwyndor.
Among the seniors who volunteered to be part of the video is local resident Valerie Boas, who was keen to share her words of wisdom with the graduating classes of 2022.
“It’s so good to be able to contribute anything that will help a young person in life,” said Valerie, aged 80.
Her tips for life centred around nurturing personal relationships.
“The success you have in your relationships is paramount and creates the balance in your life and so is worth investing in,” she said
Phil Holgate, aged 74, encouraged young people to follow their own instincts.
“Trust in yourself as you can’t always trust in others,” he said.
“There’s something called gut feel and quite often that’s better, because otherwise you tend to operate on other people’s assumptions. Trust in your own assessment of a situation and run with that.”
Retired doctor Jenny Cameron, aged 65, encouraged the high school graduates to “build a tribe of people that you can call on”.
“People in year 12 have the whole of their lives ahead of them and even though things are topsy turvy (with the current climate and COVID), the world is still a beautiful place,” she said.
Polly Goodall, aged 79, regularly volunteers in the community and urged today’s youth to follow their passions.
“You’ve got to have passion from an early age – be it politics or sport or whatever you want to be when you grow up. You’ve got to follow that passion and not give up,” she said.
Dana Wilkinson from council’s Community Wellbeing team coordinated the project and hopes to initiate more intergenerational projects in the future.
“We were fortunate to receive an overwhelming amount of support from the senior community who were keen to share their life experiences and uniquely personal messages,” she said.
“Each of the images we captured offers a slightly different message conveying the value in the differences of people’s experiences and the stories they have to share.
“I hope this video connects the two generations of seniors within a place of inspiration, hope and reassurance.”
The video featuring the messages of seniors for seniors will be shared with the year 12 graduates at both Brighton Secondary School and Sacred Heart College.
It will also be shared on Council’s social media channels to allow others in the community, and outside the Holdfast Bay area, to see the inspiring messages and words of wisdom from Holdfast Bay’s community of seniors.
