Boronia used a share of the almost $35,000 raised at its 2024 Gala Day to add a new trishaw bike to CWA’s fleet to take neighbouring elderly SwanCare residents on free outdoor rides.
The collaboration, which sees Boronia residents trained as volunteer trishaw pilots by CWA supervisors, gives elderly passengers a chance to get outdoors and creates valued social interaction for both the seniors and the women preparing to re-enter the community.
“Nobody quite does volunteering like Boronia,” one Boronia resident said. “Before coming here I’d never volunteered but it makes you want to do more.
“Giving people an experience they don’t usually get because they are limited physically, just being given that trust, changes something in us – it turns us from prisoners into people.”
Another Boronia resident, new to the initiative but not volunteering, said the program – and the exercise and conversation that come with it – play an important role in rehabilitation.
“I was familiar with how good it makes you feel,” she said. “Volunteering is a great way to build your self-esteem because you’re putting yourself back out there, I feel very lucky.”
The program also gives residents something to look forward to beyond their time at Boronia.
“A lot of women will leave here without a job, so it’s great to link them to strong supports through volunteering,” Boronia Manager, Family and Community Services, Susan Andrews said.
“It removes some of the stigma or need to explain where they’re from because they’re already part of the program.”
“They’ve become part of our volunteer family,” Karen O’Connor from Cycling Without Age added. “They feel welcome, safe and connected – and that they’re needed, which they are.”
The bespoke trishaw, which bears Boronia’s name, is the first of its kind assembled in WA.
“Having something we can put out name on now is an absolute privilege,” one resident said. “To be able to say, ‘We worked towards that, this is our part in our community’, is amazing.”
Boronia’s Gala Day has raised more than $380,000 for various charities since it began in 2005.
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