Carrington Centennial Care - Meeting Milestones
Carrington Centennial Care - Meeting Milestones
Carrington Centennial Care has been "caring for people" since 1889, when William Paling, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist donated the land and money to set up Carrington Centennial Hospital. In the early 70s, the hospital was turned into an aged care facility following an agreement made between the NSW Health Commission, Federal Department of Health and Carrington Care's Board of Trustees. Carrington Care is a non-profit, Charitable, Public Benevolent Organisation situated approximately 4 km southwest of the historic town of Camden in N.S.W.
A QPS Client for four years Carrington Care provides services in Residential Aged Care tailored to specific individual needs, a Retirement Village situated on over 400 acres of garden and bush land setting with a wide range of modern, well-appointed retirement units, cottages and villas to cater for every lifestyle and In-Home Support services for the aged, frail, and disabled members of the community and their carers.
The last few months have seen the occurrence of a number of milestones in Carrington Cares efforts to further enhance the lifestyle of residents with;
- The Official Opening of the Carrington Recreation and Leisure Club and the William Paling Walk by the Premier of NSW, The Hon. Barry O'Farrell;
- The commencement of the redevelopment of the Paling Court Aged Care facility;
The Carrington Recreation and Leisure Club, which incorporates Rocksalt, a fully licensed restaurant open to residents and the community, was officially opened by the Honorable Barry O'Farrell MP, Premier of NSW on Wednesday 7 August 2013. The official opening ceremony was attended by Chris Patterson MP, Member for Camden, Russell Matheson MP, Member for Macarthur, Camden Council General Manager, Senior Council staff, Councilors, Carrington residents and staff. In his address at the opening ceremony Chief Executive, Raad Richards said that the development of the Recreation and Leisure Club and the William Paling Walk will complement our existing services and will give Carrington an edge over our competitors in the provision of excellence in the retirement living market. 'These developments will provide our residents who have elected to make Carrington their home and future residents the enjoyment of quality facilities not matched by other providers in the Camden and surrounding areas' said Raad Richards.
'Our reputation and the brand name of Carrington has become synonymous with quality aged care services and retirement living.'
The William Paling Walk is tree lined with water cascading the length of the walk through a water fountain. In his address at the official opening, Carrington Chairman, Bruce Hanrahan said that William Paling would be very impressed with the modern, first class aged care and retirement living provider that is Carrington today. Mr. Hanrahan added 'In more recent times Carrington has continued to develop its facilities to maintain the excellent standard of care and with the opening of the Recreation Club and the William Paling walk we take another step forward to ensure that all our residents are able to enjoy the best recreational facilities.' The design of the William Paling Walk and the lighting across the walk and Carrington House projects a spectacular view at night.
In the context of activities at Carrington, the success of the computer club formed in 2001 by a group of residents with assistance and support from management cannot be ignored. Starting with 43 members, with one on one training in members' homes to 240 members and housed in the new purpose built state of the art facility, within the recently completed Leisure and Recreation building. Carrington Computer Club is a member of the Australian Seniors Computer Club association and is also officially recognised as a Microsoft Accredited Learning Centre. Whilst not the first club of its kind in a retirement village, it is the first retirement village computer club to welcome membership from seniors residing within the local community.
Carrington Computer Club provides an extensive array of courses for members comprising of:
- Introduction to computers
- Word processing
- Using the internet
- Digital photography
- Spreadsheets
- CD/DVD burning
- Genealogy
- Greeting Cards
- PowerPoint
- Digital Scrapbook
- Windows Operating System
- Files and folders management
- Windows live Movie Maker
All the above courses are provided in the relaxed and welcoming environment at Carrington, with refreshment breaks provided during sessions in the stimulating outdoors areas provided. Above the computer room is the restaurant, which serves light meals and refreshments and this has become a popular social meeting place for club members. Details of club courses, activities and newsletters can be found on the club's website www.ccc4s.com
In August 2013, Carrington Care was named as a finalist in the South Western Sydney Business Awards in the category of Innovation, with CEO Raad Richards also a finalist in the category of Business Leader. The South Western Sydney Business Awards is open to NSW Business Chamber members and Local Chamber members as part of the NSW Business Chamber awards. The winners of these awards will be announced at a Gala Dinner shortly.
Carrington Centennial Care, whilst proud of its heritage and history, recognises the need to look forward and embrace the changing needs of the future aged. The enhancements to the facility and environment provide a proactive approach to maintaining residents' health, welfare and lifestyle by providing a variety of amenities and activities including an indoor swimming pool. an auditorium, bowling green, on-site restaurant, game rooms and the computer club. Carrington Care regularly presents the program at conferences around the country in a bid to encourage other aged care providers to explore innovative ways in engaging their residents, providing a stimulating variety of activities and connecting with their local community.
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