Marie lets the sunshine in

She doesn’t care much for money or material items — but what she does care about, and has time for, is compassion, empathy and spending time with those who really need it.

She would rather use her energy making someone else’s day a little brighter — she’s known at Rochester and Elmore District Health Service as its ‘ray of sunshine’.

Three days a week, the 72-year-old walks through the doors of the aged care facility and social support group, offering something the stretched nursing staff rarely can — unhurried time to sit, listen and take a gentle stroll.

“While I’m fit and healthy, I’d like to make somebody else’s life a little bit happier,” Marie said.

“Sometimes their world seems so closed in to them, and you give them that opportunity to expand it a little bit by listening and letting them tell their story.”

While paid staff keep the facility running smoothly, Marie sees her role as filling the quiet gaps a busy clinical roster simply cannot cover.

Nurses and carers rarely have a spare half-hour to ferry residents back and forth from the activities room, stroll through the gardens, or pop up to the cafeteria for a coffee.

For residents whose minds remain sharp despite physical frailty — including a 98-year-old and a blind 99-year-old former town nursery owner — having an unhurried listener makes all the difference.

“Not a lot of the ones who are paid to do that have the time," Marie said.

“For the ones who need it, having someone sit and listen is a big thing. Even if it's just half an hour, it makes them feel better — and it certainly makes me feel better."

Having marked one year of volunteering at the facility in October, Marie has become a familiar, comforting presence in the activities room and gardens.

Whether she is pushing a wheelchair down the street for a change of scenery, helping residents through word puzzles and carpet bowls, or taking an old mate over to the men’s shed to keep his upholstery skills sharp, her focus remains firmly on practical companionship.

Marie’s path into aged care volunteering has been shaped by a lifetime of personal experiences — some joyful, many deeply difficult — all of which have forged her into the compassionate, warm-hearted person she is today.

After spending 14 years volunteering at the Salvation Army op shop, Marie decided a change was needed.

And at the same time, she already knew the local nursing home like the back of her hand.

For 23 years, Marie cared for her late husband, Jim, at home as he battled Huntington's disease — a rare, progressive genetic condition that gradually robs a person of their movement, speech and independence.

When Jim eventually required high-level care, Marie visited him almost daily for two years before he passed away four years ago.

Going through the realities of a debilitating illness gave Marie an instinctive empathy for residents who struggled to communicate or felt isolated by disability.

“A lot of people shy away from people like that, because if they can’t understand what they’re saying, they’re embarrassed,” she said.

“You’ve just got to be honest with them and say, ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.’ You have to at least try.”

Raised in England before migrating to Australia at age 12, Marie learned resilience early — helping her mother raise four children, then later running a busy mixed business and deli on Phillip Island alongside Jim.

Navigating Jim’s diagnosis — all while fighting her own breast cancer battle — only deepened her resolve, and cemented a grounded, no-nonsense approach to life that she carries with her to this day.

It is an outlook she brings every time she walks through the facility’s doors, whether sharing a laugh with sharp-witted residents in their late 90s or stepping up when someone needs an advocate.

Over the past year, one of her proudest moments came after chatting with Bill, a 97-year-old resident who mentioned he had been sent to Japan as a teenager to assist with post-war clean-up efforts in Hiroshima, yet had never received formal recognition.

Spotting local RSL representative Cameron Lovering at a service, Marie made the introduction, wrote a letter on Bill’s behalf, and helped set the wheels in motion for the veteran to finally receive his medals.

While she admits aged care has its heartbreaking moments — like watching a confused new resident find instant calm in the arms of a loving spouse — Marie finds the work deeply rewarding, especially knowing local services are always in need of extra hands.

“Look, try it,” she said, referring to anyone considering volunteering.

“It’s so worthwhile, and you get so much out of it — and they get so much out of seeing a fresh face, someone not in a hurry, someone with time to care.”