Corio’s Listening Lounge celebrated 18 years of looking out for locals Wednesday, with a free lunch for its volunteers and visitors.
The organisation’s co-ordinator Reverend Peter Jewell said the lounge was a place for residents to feel safe.
“We offer a listening ear, and if people need help we try to offer assistance.”
Up to 20 people use the group’s community room at Corio Village each day, or about 50 people a week, Rev Jewell said.
“Some have been coming here the whole 18 years.”
Many of these, he said, were local elderly residents who felt isolated in Geelong’s northern suburbs.
Irish-born widower Harry Webb has brought flowers to the lounge for nearly every day for the past five years.
He started the tradition after his wife died a few years earlier, he said, plucking flowers from the 200 native plants in his garden.
“It helps lift their spirits. I have no family nearby – this is my family here.”
“Most people here come from struggles of some sort. What I like about the place is there’s no status here – everyone is treated the same.”
Janet Pavlakis, who was at the lunch, has volunteered at the lounge since it began in 1998. She and her late husband were founding members.
“A lot of people live alone and don’t have family nearby,” she said.
“It’s just a place where they can come and share where someone might listen and care for them.”
In some cases, Ms Pavlakis said, she helped visitors in strife by finding them the right support services.
