Greetings to all Victorian Heartbeat members
I hope that this message finds you well. I also hope that none of our members are still being impacted by the recent floods. If you were amongst the many who have lost their homes, livestock, or livelihoods, then our thoughts are truly with you. We can only wish that this coming year presents us with no further challenges!
As many Heartbeat members on fixed incomes are all too aware, cost of living pressures are now causing a significant amount of distress and hardship in our communities.
A few things spring to mind as I am writing this:
- How lucky we are to live in a safe and free society such as ours in Australia. I felt so deeply saddened, when I saw yet more footage of the war in Ukraine. One wonders what else can be taken from these people. Many have no power, heating or homes. And yet, they remain determined to stay in their homeland, they cry, but they cry together, and they are making do the best they can.
- How good it is to be able to go out and spend time with friends and family after all of the lockdowns, restrictions and fears for our safety during COVID. Many of our Heartbeat members hail from regional areas. Hence, we were the fortunate ones who did not experience the most severe of the rules that changed the way that we lived. Some things will never be the same again. Simple things that we had done all of our lives, like greeting each other with a handshake.
3. The role that peer support played in helping us stay both mentally and physically well. Even during the depths of the pandemic, our Heartbeat teams have kept their sense of humour, and kept in touch with each other.
Oh, and one last thing… your new website is on its way in 2023!!!!!
Linda Macaulay
Heartbeat Happenings Autumn 2023
Please send us your latest news for inclusion in the winter 2023 edition of Heartbeat Happenings which will be published in June (please send to vivien@heartbeatvictoria.org.au by no later than Friday April 21, 2023).