Full and active lives

Garry regularly attends the Bridgewater Men’s Shed, where he makes model trucks. He’s pictured here on the left with support worker Alan Dart.

Gary is a resident at Caylea, where daily support is available to people with an acquired brain injury as a result of a motor vehicle accident. Caylea is funded by the Motor Accidents Insurance Board (MAIB) and managed by Anglicare.

Garry has lived at Caylea for 17 years. He enjoys regular walks and swimming sessions, sailing on Mondays and a visit to his favourite café, (the Car Yard Café in Derwent Park) each Wednesday.

Garry makes the wooden trucks at the Bridgewater Men’s Shed. “One truck took me 6 months to make and this one took 8 months,” he explains.

At Caylea, there’s a vegetable patch to potter in and TV to watch. Garry is close to his family and enjoys getting together on special occasions. He’s looking forward to his sister’s wedding this month.

Anglicare also supports people at Neena, another MAIB residence in Launceston.

The unit where Kees lives features model tractors, neatly stored tools, clocks and pens handcrafted from Huon pine, Essendon memorabilia and more. It opens onto a lush and private native garden.

“Everything here is excellent – the people, the company,” Kees says. “My wife knows I’m looked after. The staff are excellent, too.”

Kees is active in his local community. He enjoys the company of fellow volunteers at City Mission where he extracts copper wire from appliances. A valued member of the Kings Meadows Lions Club, he helps out with food drives and cooking hamburgers at garage sales.  He is also a former member of the Evandale Light Railway and Steam Society.

Before his car accident at the age of 40, Kees worked in the dairy, bull kelp and mining industries on King Island and loved to travel back to his native Holland. These days travelling is still exciting. Every month he flies to King Island for a week to the 200-acre cattle farm that has been in the family since 1960.

“I don’t do much, I just enjoy being there,” he says.  “I have two children; Brett is 28 and Fiona is 32. When I had my car accident Brett was only 4 and Fiona was 7. Now I have a 4-year-old grandson, Nathan.”

Read all about Anglicare’s Acquired Injury Support Services here.

Main photo: Trucks created at the Bridgewater Men’s Shed take pride of place in Garry’s lounge room at Caylea.