** End of the Year Message 2024 **
As we prepare to say goodbye to 2024, I want to take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate you. Each day, you bring your energy, compassion, and creativity to brighten the lives of those you care for. Your kindness leaves an impact that words can barely capture.
This work isn’t easy. Some days are especially challenging, yet you continue to show up with patience, resilience, and adaptability that few others can truly understand.
For many of you, the festive season will be spent caring for others. You’ll comfort those without family, lend an ear to those who did not get visitors, and offer warmth to those missing loved ones who are far away. Your presence during these moments is a true gift.
Remember to care for yourself, too. Whether it’s spending time with loved ones, reading a book, or taking a quiet moment to relax, finding time to recharge is important. You deserve it.
As the year comes to a close, it’s also a good time to reflect on those who have supported you- volunteers, colleagues, residents’ families, and friends. A kind word or a simple thank you can mean so much.
Looking ahead to 2025, I want to express my gratitude. Your contributions and the support you provide to this community are truly inspiring. Thank you for everything you do.
Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a New Year filled with health and happiness.
With gratitude,
Thank you so much for the fantastic ideas on your site, i use them every month and am very greatful for each and every idea.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and New Year.
Thank you so much Amanda. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.
Merry Christmas Abshira!
Merry christmas and Happy new year to everybody!!!
Merry Christmas to you too Lalaine, and Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas to all.
I'm new to this site and am looking forward to sharing with you in the New Year.
Welcome, Sharon. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thanks for all you do for making this publication very useful. You all do a great job.
Thank you, Val. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I shall be renewing my subscription solange - absolutely love everything about Golden Carers. :)
I wish you a very Merry Christmas
Thank you
Tracey x
Thank you very much, Tracey. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Wishing you all a very blessed festive season and a big thank you for all your ideas and helpful hints through out the years I have been a member.
Thanks so much Kaye. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Thanks ever so much for the fantastic ideas that everyone shares and to all at Golden Carersa safe festive season and looking forward to 2018...keep up the good work as this site is a valuable source of resources for all Lifestyle Staff
Thanks so much Joanne. Wishing you all the best! x
Thank you for your good wishes and a merry Christmas to you and everyone who gives us all
the support that we need to fulfill this very demanding help we try to give to our people.
Sometime, as normal, we can have a bad day but we all know we can contact you and get
advice to see us through the day.
All possible happiness and good health throughout 2017,
Jane
Thank you Golden Carers for all your inspiring ideas and support with Golden Carers Tools, our Lifestyle team uses your activity ideas weekly and the residents get so much enjoyment from them. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone working in aged care.
Thank you for all your fantastic ideas .
Merry Christmas and all the best for 2016.
Thank you for all of your great ideas.
Merry Christmas to you all and your family.
Thank you for a very inspiring and informative website.
Very best wishes for Christmas and the new year.
thank you for a great year of idea's
Everything you have written is so true and to you Natalie, your post says it all. As we all know Christmas is the busiest time for us in lifestyle and yes the reward to us is seeing our residents faces, their smile and laughter. Lifestyle is a very busy profession, but you know.....I wouldn't do anything else. Merry Christmas to you all.
thank you for those kind and true words. We all get tired at this time of year, but it is a joy to see the joy in our residents faces. For some of them we are their family, so it is important to spread the Christmas cheer. When I get sick of the paperwork and politics, I go and do a group with the residents, and they soon make me smile again too. It is a delight and an honour to care for people. It opens our hearts, minds and eyes, and we are better people for it. Merry Christmas to all the wonderful Lifestyle professionals out there.
Wishing everyone a happy healthy and peaceful xmas
Hi Lynne, Thank you for your kind words. Our best wishes for a safe, healthy and happy New Year.
Thank you Solange
Yes it has been an exhausting year, especially years end. But very rewarding in the most unexpected ways. Thank you for the Golden Carers site, it has been most invaluable. Wishing yourself and all Golden Carer members a wonderful new year full of new and inspiring activities and events for all our residents. Without them there would not be an us. Lynne VIC
I am so happy I joined Golden Carers. Thankyou so much all the great ideas I find to utilise in my work place at PAG. Merrry Christmas to all and Happy New Year.....
Thank you all for the kind comments. Merry Christmas and a Happy & Safe New Year!
thank you :)
Thank you! All the best of Christmas to you all at Golden Carers! Keep safe and have a great 2015. Thank you for everything, it is wonderful to look into the golden Carers each Tuesday & check out all the new things you have to offer! Good Health and Happiness Always! I hope the readers and Carers have a great Christmas and New Year, you all deserve it!
Thank you Solange for your ideas and help throughout the year and a safe and Merry Christmas to everyone.
Thank you for your wishes and appreciation of our work. I will look forward to more ideas, and helpful information from your site, Golden Carers, you are doing an amazing thing with this site. So again Thank you and Merry Christmas and happy 2015 to All
Merry Christmas to you &yours what a wonderful service you provide. I have retired two months ago for the 2nd time,I missed
The residents & staff the best job in the world.Sadly not a well paid job in monetary terms,but oh how privileged are we that work
In activities aged care.after 25years of shopping with 1eye looking for anything for work,it is a hard habit to break.bless you all.
Barb brown
This is my 1st year with GoldenCarers and I bless the day I found your site. It has helped me beyond belief to bring great activities to my residents and great advice when needed. So I would like to pass on my thanks and wish you all a VERY MERY XMAS AND A GREAT 2015 XX
All very true Solange. Thanks for all you do and merry Christmas to you and your family.
HI Solange,
Thank you, but the thanks also goes back to you. This site is a credit to you and the forums have to be one of the best. Wishing you and yours a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful start to the New Year. Cheers Jessie
Merry Christmas to you Solange and to all at Golden carers see you next year
As someone relatively new to the aged care industry and newly trained, thankyou for your practical suggestions. They work or give ideas that can be easily adapted to people in high dementia care.
Thank you Solange for inspiring us who are worked off our feet and are often too fatigue to come up with I the ideas we would hav liked to in our own.
Also thank you for the unity to know there are others in the same position benefitting from each other.
May you have a blessed Christmas, filled with goodwill to all, especially our aged or those who depend on us to make a positive difference in their life.
Daisy
To the golden carers team, thanks for your support during 2013 and I hope this sight continues to be a voice in a lonely world for DTS, It is good good to know someone out there understands and supports us on a daily basis and assists us to with activity suggestions to try throughout the year. Have a merry christmas and even better new year.
Thank you for all the wonderful feedback, we appreciate it so much!
Merry Christmas to all!
Merry Christmas all, your comments an suggestions have been well received and your ideas well 'borrowed'.
Thank you all for sharing
Thanks ever so much Solange. The month of December is usually an even bigger challenge in the aged care sector. While many people celebrate others feel the pain of having no family to join. Thats why our roles in aged care and dementia care are so important.
We help help lift peoples spirits, spend lots of I to I time with them and join people together in this crazy season. Christmas Carols, singing and dancing, more formal style spiritual services all give people a lift. The most wonderful things happen in this area of work - a person with high care dementia will come out with Ava Maria in song and people always remember to old sytle routes and sunday school songs. It is such a joy to join in the whole purpose of Christmas by our practices of person centered care. Always know the persons story.
Love to all throughout the new year and into 2014.
Kindest Regards, Maggie
Hi Solage & crew,
Thank you SO much for this message...I needed it today!
Have a happy Christmas & enjoy a break yourselves.
Peg
Merry Christmas Solange,
Thankyou for those wonderful words, they are a great reminder of how important the position of all lifestyle workers are, keep up the great work everyone.
Thankyou for your site it has been a great help for our facility.
Cheers Debi :)
thank you and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you, thanks Nette
Thank you Solange and your team for this great site. this is my bible and love reading all the articles, thank you for making my work more interesting. Hope you and your family have a very happy & safe Christmas and a wonderful 2014 :)
Thank you for your support & ideas through 2013, I look forward to conversing with you all in 2014, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, regards Kerry.
Dear Solange, Being a leisure and Health worker can be lonely and frustrating so say the least sometimes, but one thing we all have in common is a friend in you and your wonderful site. The support offered to each and everyone of the Golden Carers Members goes beyond and above keeping us all a float and on the right track to continue to provide the one thing we are all trying to do. Provide normal life pursuits to individuals in our care.. I love my job and Golden Carers helps me to continue to realise that when things get a little tough. I thank you and your team for helping me to continue to do this and wish each and everyone one a Merry Christmas and a safe and productive New Year. xxx
Hi Solange, Thank you for this site, I love it! Thank you also for your understanding about our role. I have volunteered in this area for 20 years, and I have had to recently leave a Rec Officer job I had for 18months due to family commitments. It was during this time I had the sad experience of how belittling and dismissive some staff can be. Emotional well being is just as important as the physical and it comes to people in all different ways. I wish the "Nursing/Caring" Staff were intelligent enough to understand this.
I highly recommend the volunteer idea, great way to see if you and your personality fits in with the facility.
Same happened with me, then I found my current place and I have never looked back. Sometimes I think the residents are looking after me, not the other way around!
Hi Pauline and Jennifer, I am sorry you had a bad experience in the industry. Not every facility treats leisure and recreation staff with contempt. You were so very unlucky. I hope you reconsider your positions. Maybe if you search carefully when looking for the next job; perhaps volunteer for a couple of days before applying for a position. I wish you and all the others in the same boat a very Merry Christmas and Happy and a safe New Year!
Solange
Jennifer I too walked away from an activity officers job this due to the same reason you did and I like you if staff recognised what we do on daily basis for each and every person we work with including staff the aged care system would be all the better for it. I know in my heart that I love my job and it was the hardest thing for me to do. But a time comes when the bullying, harrasment and work roll gets recognised instead of us being the kickboard for everyone in the industry to have a go at things will not change. The Dt association and managements all say they will support us but when crunch comes to crunch they don,t and do they realise if all the long term experienced activity officers keep leaving who will they able to draw on to help teach the newer ones that come along. I really would love to go back to another position in this industry but as they have created so much stress and heartache in my life I don,t know when that will be. So to everyone in the industry have a very merry christmas and an even better 2014.
Hi Solange, To you and all the people at Golden Carers I would like to thank you for your wonderful website and wish you a happy and safe Christmas and new year. God bless you all Lisa :)
Dear Solange. I always have good intentions of contributing to such a wonderful sight and feel I must at least reply to your lovely end of year reflection. You put together such fantastic thoughts and ideas and I am sure there are many of us lifestyle people out there who are much the wiser/ kinder for it. so thank you so much I do hope you can relax these holidays although we all know that as such our brains never switch off.
So here's to a fantastic 2014 to you and everyone who reads the site, Remember that Florence Nightingale once said " Life is a precious gift there is nothing small about it. Live your life whilst you have " at 71, I intend to do just that.
God Bless
Susan
Ps I am also a Red Hatter. .And boy is my life full. It means my husband can play as much bowls as he likes too!!
101 to 145 results of 145