Skip to main content RSS Info Close Search Facebook Twitter
Location
Category
Aged Care Homes
Providers / Vacancies
Service Providers
Feedback

Emirates Melbourne Cup stops by Uniting AgeWell facility

Just like at Melbourne Cup, there were feathers and flowers, horses and heroes, delectable delicacies and engaging entertainers, when Uniting AgeWell welcomed the Emirates Melbourne Cup Tour to one of its facilities recently.

<p>The ladies of Kingsville finalised their outfits by making hats and fascinators</p>

The ladies of Kingsville finalised their outfits by making hats and fascinators

Uniting AgeWell Kingsville Community was selected as one of 34 destinations for the Cup’s Australasian Tour,  as it makes its way to Flemington for the ‘race that stops the nation’ on Tuesday 1 November.

After weeks of preparation and anticipation, residents enjoyed a morning of reminiscence and celebration while admiring the Emirates Melbourne Cup trophy.

The aged care residents created hundreds of paper flowers to decorate a rose arbour, with assistance from volunteers from Victoria University as part of their V4U volunteer day.

Miniature wooden racing horses, created by community clients, decorated the lounge, and the ladies of Kingsville finalised their outfits by making hats and fascinators in a special workshop with milliner, Diane Kilduff of Hatiness.

Uniting AgeWell Chief executive officer (CEO), Andrew Kinnersly, said the arrival of the $175,000 trophy illustrated the organisation’s commitment to community connection and encouraging older people to live and age well.

“Many of our clients have lived most of their lives in the Kingsville and Footscray areas and have memories about local sporting events including the Melbourne Cup and Spring Racing Carnival in nearby Flemington,” he says.

“Capturing that tradition in hosting the Emirates Melbourne Cup is a powerful way of evoking some of those memories and emotions in older people.”  

Three-time Melbourne Cup winning jockey and Australian Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Jim Johnson, was the guest of honour.

He told stories about his historic wins, and how hailing from a racing family he was destined to be a jockey.

“It’s a great feeling that you don’t realise at the time but stands by you later in life,” he said of his wins.

2002 Fashions on the Field Winner, Arabella Forge, shared her experience of winning Fashions on the Field as a young university student who loved the races and fashion.

“The beauty of the competition is anyone can win,” she says.

“You don’t have to spend a fortune to look fabulous, it’s about adapting to the elements of the day and being yourself.”

For Amarco resident John Stainsby the event brought back fond memories of seeing horse training near his family home in Maribyrnong.

“Being so close to the tracks, I used to see them train all the time,” he says.

Share this article

Read next

Subscribe

Subscribe to our Talking Aged Care newsletter to get our latest articles, delivered straight to your inbox
  1. Eighty years after getting married, this couple lives together...
  2. Who says your age should limit your dreams?
  3. Data from a recently released report highlights a concerning...
  4. With an ageing and growing population, data from the...
  5. Approximately 411,000 Australians are estimated to be living...
  6. How could you benefit from attending university as an older...

Recent articles

  1. A solemn piece of prose by an anonymous poet, reflecting on...
  2. The Support at Home program offers a promising step forward...
  3. Staff members of a facility are the face of the home. They are...
  4. While you are waiting for your HCP or your interim package,...
  5. Dementia is not a single disease—it is an umbrella term...
  6. Waking up multiple times at night to urinate can be...
  7. The new report sets the stage for important reforms, affecting...
  8. Polio Australia has provided a history of viral disease and...
  9. High-quality home care requires you to do some research on...
  10. A Home Care Package can offer a variety of supports at home to...
  11. When a person begins to pass away, the process can take some...
  12. Aged care homes may carry a stigma that there’s a...