Beauty Point Retirement Resort resident nominated twice for her volunteer work

Lynne Gall, a resident at Beauty Point Retirement Resort for the past 12 years, has been nominated for her work as a volunteer by Anglican Youthworks for her work co-ordinating a team of teachers who teach scripture at Kingsgrove and Beverly Hills schools and at the same time, she’s been nominated as Senior Volunteer of the Year for her services to the St George area because of her volunteer work with Anglicare and her local church.

Lynne’s work with the Anglicare Disaster Recovery team could be even more critical this year as we’re now on bushfire alert for the rest of the summer season. Lynne works as a Team Leader for Georges River Disaster Recovery so if there’s a fire or a flood, she’s the one who helps to organise an evacuation centre.

While we’re having this hot weather and strong winds, Lynne is keeping an eye on the fires and making sure she’s ready to get to an evacuation centre at a minute’s notice – probably at Revesby Workers Club.

“I do it with the help of people from the Red Cross and we’ve all got our roles. I have to find out who’s available and start getting it all set up if an emergency occurs. This is real team management. I was involved with the Kurnell tornado in December 2016 and that went for three days,” she says.

Lynne found out about her nomination for co-ordinating the team teaching scripture when an Advisor for the Anglican Youthworks Special Religious Education department let her know she’d been nominated under the category – Corporate and Volunteer Team Management.

It was only the next day when Lynne received an email from Mark Coure, Member for Oatley, saying she’d been nominated as Senior Volunteer of the Year for her services to the St George area. “So I’m wondering if someone thinks I’m not going to be able to do anything next year!” she laughs.

Volunteering is just a part of Lynne’s busy life

When we spoke with Lynne, she told us she volunteers for a variety of causes and has done ever since she stopped working in her high-profile job at Westpac. She told us she’s a trained teacher but after she’d spent six years teaching, she moved on to work at the bank: “I went to the bank for a break and I stayed 31 and a half years – because it was just so good. Training people in the bank was a cinch because people wanted to learn so it was quite different and I loved it,” she says.

When Lynne left the bank, she was used to being busy so when she was asked by a friend to take over and teach her Special Religion Education class at one of the local schools, she said yes: “I’ve got two classes at Kingsgrove and one at Beverley Hills now – so I have Year 3, 5 and Kindergarten. I like teaching and when I go back to Kingsgrove – that’s my old school – I have so many connections there. It’s nice to be able to keep in touch,” she adds.

Keeping her interest in music alive by sharing it with others

Music has always been an important part of Lynne’s life so a few years ago she joined a Chatswood choir and they sing at retirement villages “… citizenship ceremonies and things like that.” To pass on her love of music, Lynne runs a choir at Beauty Point Retirement Resort: “We do a lot of unison singing and lead singalongs – it’s a lot of fun,” she says.

Lynne also helps out at a local nursing home: “… just playing the piano and singing – and this is in the Shire!” So it’s obvious Lynne likes helping out and bringing some positivity into people’s lives by passing on her love of music.

Keeping active helps Lynne stay positive as well

Lynne admits she’s very busy and she “… has something on nearly every day. I don’t think I have a whole day where I think to myself, well, wonder what I’m going to do today? I play Bridge here at the resort as well and I organise church services, so it’s all very busy,” she adds.

She wasn’t always quite so busy. When she first moved to Beauty Point Retirement Resort, she was getting over the fact her mother had recently passed on and she says this was “a difficult time” for her.

“I was so glad to be here and be within this community. These days, if I’m here at home, I’m doing something but I’m surrounded by all of these people I know. The girls here are all so co-operative so if I have a problem with something on the computer, I can come over to reception and ask someone and get help. Even if I’ve got to photocopy stuff and I’m in a hurry, I can do it here,” she adds.

“When you’re on your own, as I am, it’s so comforting to know you have 24 hour care here as well. We have a carer on duty here all the time. That’s where this place is different to every other retirement village in Australia virtually. It’s just super having that here and the carers are so good,” she says.

Lynne adds the major benefit of volunteering is that she can be connected to far more people: “I guess, it’s being part of the greater community. I think volunteering lets me do that more,” she adds.