From the Office of the Minister for Health and Aged Care



From the Office of the Minister for Health & Aged Care

Friday, March 12, 1999.

A HEALTHY START FOR SENIOR CITIZENS WEEK

A Bairnsdale man who has rallied the community behind him to improve the health of rural men has won the 1999 Premier’s Senior Citizen of the Year Award.

George Seear, 75, was presented with his award today by the Health & Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles at a ceremony at Government House as part of the lead-up to Senior Citizens Week.

“The award nominees are all inspirational,” Mr Knowles said.

“They provide an insight into the lives of older people and remind us how important their contribution is to our community.

“The Premier’s Senior Citizen of the Year Award is both a symbol of the Government’s commitment to its seniors and a tribute to them in this, the United Nations International Year of Older Persons.”

An active member of the regional Men’s Health Committee, Mr Seear has assisted the planning and running of a number of very successful Big Night Out forums on health issues for men.

At the age of 70, after coronary bypass surgery and managing diabetes, he contacted the Bairnsdale Regional Health Service for support with setting up a Heartbeat Club in the town. In no time, he had organised a media campaign and public meetings, and the club was established with the support of the whole community. Within two years, club membership exceeded any other rural club in Victoria.

Mr Seear has led the Heartbeat Club as president for the past five years. His own health problems over recent months have not stopped him organising club activities, major fundraising events and social support activities.

Mr Seear is a member of various committees that assist the Bairnsdale community to organise local events, such as: a night to encourage support for an organ transplant register; fun runs; Senior Citizens Week programs, and fundraising activities.

The Senior Citizen of the Year Award is a vital component of Senior Citizens Week, which runs from 14 to 21 March.

“Senior Citizens Week is both a symbol of the Victorian Government’s commitment to its seniors and a tribute to them,” Mr Knowles said.

“The award is for someone who has contributed to the wellbeing of others, or has excelled at an activity totally new to them in later life. Past awards have, commendably, shown the compassion, the energy, the selflessness and the community involvement of older people.”

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The award and Senior Citizens Week form part of the Victorian Government’s year-long focus on senior citizens, as part of its celebration of the United Nations International Year of Older Persons.

The award is conducted jointly by the Victorian Government and Council on the Ageing (COTA Vic).

Six other older Victorians received Senior Achiever Awards from the Chair of COTA Vic, Delys Sargeant.

NOTE: Time & venue of the presentation: - 10.30am today (Friday), Government House, Government House Dve. Melbourne.

Media inquiries:

Graeme Walker, Human Services Department Media Unit 9616 7296.

Serena Williams, Press Secretary 9651 5799; 0419 897 858.

Internet:

(F:press99/ SeniorCitizen /gw/11.3.99)

WINNERS OF COTA SENIOR ACHIEVER AWARDS

Edith Dizon-Fitzsimmons

Listed in the International Who’s Who of Music, music therapist Mrs Dizon-Fitzsimmons was the first female pilot in her homeland, the Philippines. She worked internationally for the Philippines News Service; hosted radio and television programs and obtained a brown belt in judo, after being pushed from a taxi and robbed in Manila. She established the Good Shepherd’s Fold Orphanage on Guimaras Island before moving to Shepparton, where she made her house available to 24 people from the orphanage, on the proviso they receive musical tuition from the Manila Symphony Orchestra - four of them are now professional musicians. Legally blind, Mrs Dizon-Fitzsimmons is currently studying for her doctorate at La Trobe University, and learning braille. In 1990, aged 67, the twice-widowed mother of eight left Shepparton to study music therapy at Michigan State University in America - she gained her Masters Degree with honours in 1995, and returned to Shepparton. Mrs Dizon-Fitzsimmons founded the Goulburn Valley Multicultural Youth Singing Bell Choir, where she is the principal accompanist and bell tutor. An honorary Lieutenant in the Philippine Airforce Support Service, Mrs Dizon-Fitzsimmons is fiercely independent and believes one is “never too old to learn”.

Nance Jeffreys

Nance Jeffreys will be 85 this year, which will not stop her competing at the World Masters Veteran Olympics in Brisbane in September. From Ballarat, world-class athlete, Mrs Jeffreys started breaking world records in athletics when she was 78 - the year after her first training session. She has won close to 50 gold medals and has been beaten only once in the past seven years. She broke the world record for the 10km walk in the 75-79 age group at the World Veterans Games in 1987 and in 1990 broke world records for the 5km and 10km walks in the 80-84 age group. In 1989 she set an Australian record for the 100m sprint. Trained as dancer when young, she toured Australia with a dance company for five months at a time, before starting work at the Yarra Falls Mill at the age of 15. She and her husband successfully nursed their son through polio. A keen member of the Ballarat Senior Citizens Club, where she dances in the variety concerts, she is also a member of the Over 55 Fitness Club and works out several times a week in a two-hour circuit that combines aerobics, gym and ball games. Nance Jeffreys is both a Dean Jones and Collingwood fan, and is a member of Recycled Teenagers, a group which won the Red Faces competition on Hey, Hey It’s Saturday.

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Cait Kyne

From Northcote, Cait Kyne is a voluntary community activist who believes that community development means empowering people to help themselves. Despite health problems, Cait has systematically worked for better social justice outcomes. Tireless and a quiet achiever, Cait Kyne has been involved in the campaign for Native Title rights; is a member of the Friends of Fairfield Station; wrote and directed a street theatre production for the Darebin Democracy Now group; was convenor of a working party that opposed non-democratic and racist elements in the municipality; co-ordinated data collection on community political and social concerns, is an active member of the Darebin Aboriginal Network; a founding member of the Koori Employment Support Network; and is involved with the Darebin Artists Group, Darebin Writers, Minajalku Centre and the Just Jobs Campaign. A supporter the of the Local Exchange Trading System, Cait Kyne also campaigns on environmental issues.

Yam Lee

At 87 years old, Yam Lee has been a member and Committee representative of the Box Hill Chinese Elderly Citizens Club since 1988. With a personal motto, “if you can make other people happy you will make yourself happy”, Mr Lee was born in Hong Kong in 1911 and worked there for 45 years in the dockyards. During this time he also became a tai chi instructor. He migrated to Australia in 1985 and, following the death of his wife in 1980, has looked after three children and five grandchildren. Mr Lee holds community welfare to heart, and he now teaches tai chi for free, to raise the level of fitness, peace of mind and happiness of club members. He is well-liked and respected by all the groups involved with the Box Hill Senior Citizens Centre, and is a tireless fundraiser and salesman for a large range of stalls at functions and street fairs. Yam Lee has personally helped to remove barriers and build up good relationships between ethnic groups in his community, and his devotion to assisting others has set a benchmark for others to follow.

Beryl Martin

Beryl Martin has lived in Darebin for 67 years, and has four children and 12 grandchildren. A full-time carer for her husband, who had a massive stroke in 1992, Mrs Martin joined the Bundoora Stroke Carers Support Group and quickly established herself as an energetic secretary and untiring advocate for stroke carers. Her achievements for the support group include: Conducting the radio program Stroke Talk for the past three years on Community Inner Radio Station FM 96.5; production of a monthly newsletter, and the editing and production of The Stroke Recovery Highway: A Carers Guide. Beryl is a contact person and adviser to new stroke carers, and serves on the Carerlinks North Steering Committee. Mrs Martin also has had a long-time association with golf. A keen golfer, she has served as captain, treasurer and secretary of the Northcote Golf Club Association, and as minute secretary and secretary of the Victorian Women’s Golf League - of which she is now a Life Member.

Eric Mitchell

Eric Mitchell is currently the School Council president at Noble Park English Language School and Heatherhill Secondary College, where he also serves on a number of committees. He has shown outstanding leadership at both schools, and works tirelessly to improve conditions for students. His contributions to his community include: Being both a City of Springvale councillor and the city’s last Mayor; acting as a volunteer guide and member of the speakers panel for the Melbourne Zoo; the establishment of the Braeside Park Friends Group; board membership of Parks Victoria’s Community Environment Fund Advisory Council; and convenor of the Friends Network of the Victorian National Parks Association. Prior to his retirement, Eric Mitchell chaired the local Good Neighbourhood Council and the Springvale Community Youth Support Scheme, and successfully lobbied Springvale Council to employ its first social worker.

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