Residents, families and staff come together to make our residential aged care facilities feel like home. For one group of volunteers, the CA Brown Auxiliary, put our residents’ wellbeing at the core of their mission.

CA Brown Auxiliary started alongside the inception of CA Brown Village and has been integral in creating meaningful
connections for residents within our community.

Former Auxiliary president Audrey Clark was one of many members who helped raise almost half a million dollars to go towards residents’ activities.

“The Auxiliary was made up of a group of people from all walks of life,” Audrey says.

“We worked together to raise money for the nursing homes. We did all sorts of things, including high-tea and arts and crafts.”

Audrey fondly remembers the Arts and Crafts Fair as her favourite annual fundraiser.

It brought the community together to create an exhibition of local art. The three-day event attracted sponsors and hundreds of members of the community.

“We invited people to contribute to it, artists, and it was set up at Timbury Hall,” she says.

“We got some crowds. It was a big thing, and we tried to raise a lot of money.”

Guests were invited to enjoy paintings, gourmet foods, pottery, clothing, jewellery, patchwork quilts, and ornaments.

One of Audrey’s biggest initiatives was the launch of the Lifestyle Resource Van.

The Auxiliary contributed $25,000 towards the van, which was equipped with Anglican Care lifestyle resources.

The goal was to achieve positive social, cognitive, sensory, behavioural and spiritual outcomes across the organisation.

The van was a modern take on a library system and was a first in the aged care industry.

Working as a school teacher, Audrey was encouraged to join by her sister and slowly progressed through the group before serving an extended period as president.

“It was a natural progression. I was, first of all, the treasurer for five years and then I progressed to president for about 20 years,” she says.

“I think everything changes. You can’t just keep everything the same as things do change. Change is for the better.”

Audrey’s connection to CA Brown grew even stronger as she moved into CA Brown retirement living, where she was a resident for 17 years, before transitioning to CA Brown Lodge.

The Clark wing in CA Brown was named after Audrey in honour of her years of service.