‘It’s just magic’: Vital friendships blossom at Bowes Avenue Community Centre
“See how bare it was, there was nothing around, can you see?” says Tina, thumbing through a photo album of happy snaps from the earliest days of the Bowes Avenue Community Centre Gardening Friendship Group.
The humble patch of turf in the photo album has since transformed into a thriving fruit and vegetable garden, studded with raised garden beds and teeming with new green growth.
“With donations of little bits and pieces – we just plonk them anywhere! – we’ve created this beautiful garden,” she says.
The photos document that blossoming. In one picture, a platter overflows with fresh produce – glossy eggplants, deep green basil and abundant tomatoes of difference sizes. Another snap features a young boy, perhaps someone’s grandson, holding aloft the first ever apricot plucked from the garden.
Located in Airport West, the community centre is a popular spot for ageing residents who want to stay active in their neighbourhood.
The gardening friendship group is just one of a range of programs Moonee Valley City Council offers at ‘Bowes’, as it’s affectionately known.
Other activities include: Strength Conditioning Training; Yoga; Patchwork, Sew and Quilting; Learn to Ballroom Dance; Knit Stitch and Chat; Mah Jong, and the Airport West Social Book Club. There are also regular information sessions about everything from navigating the Aged Care sector and visits from Hearing Australia.
“It keeps our participants active – that’s the most important thing,” says Antonette Medica, Council’s Hub Activation & Program Officer said.
“A lot of participants are socially isolated because they are not driving or they have lost a partner. But Bowes is walking distance to their neighbourhood, and is a local place to connect, make friends with other residents and feel they belong.”
It’s these long-lasting and life-affirming connections that the gardeners say they appreciate most.
“It’s the friendships we’ve made and enjoying each other’s company. It’s just magic to be in the garden, laughing, and doing what we do,” Tina reflects.
Visit the Bowes Avenue Community Centre webpage to learn more about their upcoming programs.