Timboon and surrounding community members are invited to come together later this month to celebrate and explore the fruits of their extraordinary labour for Aberlea Timboon.
A public meeting in 2008 signaled the start of a community project to raise enough funds to redevelop the Timboon House site in Baxter Street into a brand-new retirement complex.
Aberlea Timboon Advisory Committee chair Martin Van de Wouw said five, two-bedroom independent living units and a communal common area now stood testament to the community’s vision, hard work and determination.
“This facility, here in Timboon, is quite a special success story. It has materialised from the community’s extraordinary fundraising over 13 years and we want to celebrate that success with the community at a special event this month,” he said.
“Everyone is invited to attend the Open Day from 12.30pm to 2.00pm on Wednesday, May 19. We look forward to showing community members through the facility and to making a few presentations and acknowledging some special contributions.
“Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised by our community over the years and all of it has stayed here in Timboon to realise the community’s vision.”
Mr Van de Wouw said the project could never have happened without Aberlea Mortlake and a mountain of local fundraising in the early years.
“Certainly Aberlea in Mortlake has been central to the project, providing all the administration, insurances, compliance and things like that so that the community could concentrate on fundraising and supporting our residents,” he said.
“We’re all very proud of the project and speaking for everyone involved now and over the years we just can’t thank the community and Aberlea Mortlake enough for making this happen.
“We still have room here to build one more unit and that is very much still part of our plans, but we also have bigger plans to share with the community down the track.”
Anyone interested is residing at Aberlea is invited to contact Aberlea CEO David Knight on 5599 2901, Mr Van de Wouw or fellow committee members Peter Pope, Owen Wallace, Gerard Vogels, Terry O’Connor, Enid O’Connor, Cath Brown, Darcy Howard, Ray Smith and Trevor Bullen.
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