Lorraine Wilcox is a familiar sight as she clocks up the kilometres walking down the roads and pavements of Euroa with her trusty red walker.

The 77-year-old walked over 50km to raise funds for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October and plans on upping the ante and doing 77km in November. Just because she can!

“Actually the ladies down at the local shop told me they’d give me a bottle of my favourite wine if I did it, so I told them, ‘you’re on!” laughs the feisty grandmother. “I was going to do it anyway to keep my fitness levels up. The wine is just a bit of a giggle – it’s lovely they are so supportive and kind.”

Lorraine relishes her daily walks. She enjoys listening to the birds, chatting to people and watching life unfold in the neighbourhood she loves. People wave to her as they drive past. She loves to chat to people she meets.

She’s absolutely determined to get her mobility levels up and says her days of being a couch potato are over. She also works out in her loungeroom by following an exercise routine she watches on her television. “Use it or lose it as they say! And I tell you what, I’m not about to lose it! I’ve got too much living to do.”

Lorraine is not exaggerating. She retired from working at a local service station five years ago and has a busy social life. She’s the treasurer of the Longwood Senior Club and often heads off with a group of friends on bus trips for social outings to Nagambie. She still drives.

“I guess I’m used to being busy,” she explains. “Over the years I’ve had all sorts of jobs. I even owned my own café, Polly’s for many years. People still talk about the slices and the cake that I used to make. Sometimes they’ll see me walking down the street and say ‘hello Polly’, and that’s fine too.”

Lorraine also loves gardening. Her little back garden has bursts of colour thanks to its assortment of hanging baskets and garden pots. There’s a little fishpond and she enjoys painting garden gnomes which she places under plants and shrubs. “Just to set the record straight, I talk to my fish but not to the gnomes,” she laughs.

Her other passion is reading. Her bookcase is crammed with mainly crime novels and who-dunnits.

Lorraine has swollen legs and feet and has been diagnosed with a lung condition. She has also lost a lot of strength in her hands and arms.
About a year ago she was assessed by My Age Care and opted to go with Uniting AgeWell for help with domestic services around her comfortable two-bedroomed home where she lives on her own.

“The lovely people at Uniting AgeWell did all the paperwork for me and now I have someone who helps with the cleaning, which is fantastic. They also got me a lighter walker and a special kettle that I can tilt to pour a cuppa, as I struggle to pick up anything heavy these days.”

Lorraine’s sense of fun bubbles over at every opportunity. She strikes a film-star pose as she demonstrates how the kettle tilts to enable her to pour water for a cuppa. “Pretty cool, huh? How do they think of these things?”

But while Lorraine loves the efficiency and excellence of the services, it is the kindness factor that staff show that gives her a lump in the throat. “A few months ago, I caught COVID-19 and I phoned Uniting AgeWell and asked them to cancel sending someone over to clean as I didn’t want to infect them,” she explains.

“Next thing, a nurse in the team, Sharon Paull, was phoning me and asking how I was feeling and what she could do to help me. Sharon kept on checking in with me. I was incredibly touched! The staff at Uniting AgeWell are all really such special people. ”

She shares the same great rapport with Home Care Worker Christine Todd. They clearly enjoy each other’s company, with Lorraine revelling in cracking jokes and sharing witticisms.

Christine used to be a high-end fashion designer in London and Australia until she threw it in for a career with meaning. She became a veterinary nurse – which eminently qualifies her to describe the hen as “gorgeous”! However, after returning to the UK to care for her elderly dad, and seeing the care lavished on him by aged care staff, she studied to be an aged care worker and has never looked back.

“I’m making a difference, I’m in a role that matters,” she says.