We traveled south a couple of weeks ago to be part of the Stockland Affinity Open Day.
As we set up (and the wonderful ladies organised coffee for us) we had the opportunity to take a good around.
The entrance boasted a scale model of the village and was of particular interest to the open day visitors who were coming from all over Perth to see the village and the facilities.
The main club house building – where the open day was being held – had everything from a craft corner, a library with comfy chairs, social media stations and an indoor swimming pool and gym, which even the most hardened of couch potatoes would be willing to try out (at least once). There were other attractions and amenities of course. From the large room (complete with wooden dance floor) with a view of the Bowling Green and then behind reception and administration there was a fabulous kitchen and dining area – and the morning tea they had provided went down very well with everyone.
So why were we there?
Jay had been asked to give a talk on how we can eliminate some or all of the reasons people have when thinking about downsizing and moving into a retirement village community such as Stockland’s Affinity.
Jay took visitors, staff, residents and fellow expo service providers through her mother’s personal journey and the barriers they had to overcome, including:
- A large family home full of personal belongings and several estates she had accumulated over the years;
- Not being well enough at the time to declutter the home get it ready for sale; and
- Having to relinquish doing some of the physical work after a lifetime of doing everything herself.
Listening to the comments and questions afterwards, it was obvious quite a few people had similar issues and problems. The good news for the Stockland open day visitors was they had an opportunity to book a Map the Way 90 minute discussion.
The open day gave visitors a chance to speak to many local service providers and current residents were on hand to answer any questions about life in the village. You could tell they were residents because they wore a huge badge that said “I’m a resident, ask me anything” – Jay had noticed this and said to Kathy, our contact at Affinity, that she was glad it didn’t say – “I’m a resident, get me out of here…”
For retirees and empty nesters one of the biggest draw cards for moving to the retirement village appeared to be the re-gaining of a social network – something they had lost as family and friends moved away from their home area.
Of course it’s a big decision, and it may not be for everyone, but from what we could see there were plenty of reasons to move in.
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