Volunteering has always played a big part in Margaret Gibson’s life, so when she moved to TriCare James Ommaney Retirement Community, it was only natural for her to put her hand up to help out.
Originally from South Australia, Mrs Gibson moved to Queensland with her husband Merv who was working in the ministry.
Mrs Gibson says she has always enjoyed volunteering as it provides not only an opportunity to give back to her community, but also meet new people and maintain social connections.
Before moving to TriCare James Ommaney Retirement Community she volunteered with Meals On Wheels as well her local Uniting Church at Yeronga.
With a love of books and reading, Mrs Gibson’s most recent volunteering role has been coordinating the running of TriCare James Ommaney’s in house library, with help from a few other residents.
“There are six willing ladies that work with me on various tasks including administration, sorting and cataloguing books.
I really enjoy working with them, along with the opportunity to chat with residents when they come to swap over their books,” said Mrs Gibson.
The library holds a range of genres and styles of publications with large print books proving to be very popular.
Every six months the library receives a selection of books from the local Mt Ommaney Library which provides them with fresh stories and interesting reading material.
“This is a busy time for the committee, working together to organize the books to send back.
Then the work begins again with a new selection of books being catalogued, and put on the shelves. This can take up to three hours!” said Mrs Gibson.
The Library is also used as a quite area for jigsaw puzzles, and various other activities by many of the TriCare James Ommaney residents.
