Artist and author Dianne Leslie is adamant about why she needs to keep fit: for strength and good balance to juggle all the things she needs to do each day. 

So, every week she goes for a one-on-one session with Uniting AgeWell Physiotherapist Harshil Vakharia at the Wellness Centre and AgeWell Gym at the Uniting AgeWell Community Hub Burwood East to get what she calls “a thorough workout.” 

“Harshil certainly puts me through my paces,” Dianne laughs.  “Every time I go there, he ups the ante and makes me work that much harder.  There’s no way I would have pushed myself to achieve this on my own!  The session goes for an hour, and I can tell you, I already feel so much stronger since I started with him.  He’s very patient and congenial, and he certainly knows his stuff.” 

Dianne also loves the atmosphere at the airy, spacious Community Hub, and is particularly fond of the receptionist Pauline Knoetzen, who she says has a heart as big as her smile. 

The 80-year-old, who is on a government-funded home care package through Uniting AgeWell, uses her package to attend the AgeWell Gym as well as to receive cleaning and gardening services to enable her to live well at her unit in a Blackburn retirement village. 

“I need to be fit in order to cope, it’s that simple,” explains Dianne.  “I’ve got a lot on my plate.” 

She’s not exaggerating.  

She is very involved with the Alcove Art Shop in the Box Hill Community Art Centre where she exhibits and sells her paintings, as well as a range of art crafts including a set of playing cards with magpie drawings, painted mugs and tea towels and more.  She has also written a number of art books. 

Paint runs in her blood.  Years ago, she started the Artfully Yours Studio Gallery in the Barossa Valley and ran water colour lessons there. 

Then there’s reading, buying plants for her garden, spending time with their blended family including their grandchildren, catching up with friends and of course painting.