Playgroup at Baptistcare Yallambee Launches in Mundaring

A new intergenerational playgroup for the Mundaring community, Playgroup at Baptistcare Yallambee, was recently launched at Baptistcare Yallambee residential care facility.

The playgroup brings elderly people at Mundaring’s Baptistcare Yallambee residential care facility, parents and young children together for quality interaction through activities and playtime for a few hours each week. Children and residents will enjoy activities together including movement activities for exercise, storytime, sing-a-longs and indoor and outdoor playtime.

Baptistcare Yallambee’s Facility Manager James Townley said the playgroup is a good opportunity for people of all ages to enjoy meaningful interaction and there has been a fantastic response from the Mundaring community and local businesses.

“It’s great for the residents as it helps keep them connected with the community. We look forward to seeing how the playgroup develops and grows. A big thank you to Larissa Clark, Baptistcare nurse and local mum, for her inspiration to get the playgroup started and for volunteering her time,” Mr Townley said.

One of the residents at Baptistcare Yallambee, June, said, “I like having the children here and watching them play.”

Ashleigh, a parent who attended the launch with her two year old son and three month old daughter, said the playgroup provided a positive and valuable learning environment for her children to socialise with older members of the community.

“We don’t have grandparents close by and we thought it would be nice for my son, to teach him patience and things like that,” she said.

Local community partners have lent their support, with Mundaring Community Bank awarding a community grant to go towards sourcing toys and equipment for the children and residents, and Mundaring Woolworths sponsoring the morning tea refreshments.

Mundaring Community Bank’s Executive Officer, Karen Beale, said Playgroup at Baptistcare Yallambee was a great initiative for members of the local community which Mundaring Community Bank is excited to support through its grants program.

“It’s a win-win situation and ticks all the boxes. There’s a lot of research about intergenerational playgroups. It’s good for the young ones and engages the elderly residents as well,” said Ms Beale.

Starting up the intergenerational playgroup was the idea of local mum and Baptistcare employee Larissa Clark. Ms Clark put out a call for expressions of interest on the Perth Hills chat forum and Facebook, and said she was encouraged by the level of support they have received.

“We encourage anyone to come along and be a part of it. If you have any talents, piano playing or dancing with kids, anything like that would be an amazing help. Donations will never go astray, we can always get new and better things for the kids and residents,” said Ms Clark.

Click here to find out more about Baptistcare's aged care services in Western Australia.

Pictured L to R: Larissa Clark, Karen Beale, Baptistcare Yallambee resident June, James Townley and Karissa Donaghey at the playgroup launch with some of the toys supplied through Mundaring Community Bank’s community grant