By Mrs Erica Whitby, Acting Director of Service Learning

During the term break, it was announced that fifty Radford College students in Years 10 and 11 have been named as finalists in Lifeline Canberra’s Spirit of Canberra Awards.

The Spirit of Canberra Awards celebrate, acknowledge and inspire positive change within the Canberra community, recognising the efforts that improve the social, economic, environmental, or cultural well-being of the community.

Across three different programs, our students plan and run art classes, inclusive (wheel-chair accessible) dance classes and games/conversations for residents at the Calvary Haydon Residential Aged Care Home every Friday. In these programs, students build relationships with residents at Calvary, which brings a lot of joy to all involved.

Aged Care is not always an easy place to live, work or volunteer. It is a credit to the students involved that they step out of their comfort zone and put themselves out there in the pursuit of reducing loneliness and social isolation for the residents.

Calvary staff reported back that these programs have a profound impact in helping with depression, anxiety, stress and social isolation experienced by residents who have dementia or are in palliative care. It creates meaning and purpose for residents, learning opportunities for students, and ultimately builds a more cohesive community for all.

Within the Spirit of Canberra Awards, there is an additional People’s Choice Award, which is decided based on the number of votes from members of the public. We would love your support, and hope that as many members of the Radford community as possible would vote for our student volunteers.

Click here to cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award!

Please note, you will need to either vote for an individual on the first page of the voting form, or click ‘next’ at the bottom of the page without voting for an individual, to take you through to voting for an organisation. Radford College is listed on this page. Voting closes this coming Monday, 21 October 2024 and the winners will be announced on Thursday 24 October.

To find out more about the Spirit of Canberra Awards, please visit their website.

Congratulations to everyone involved.