An unlikely friendship

The briny coastline of Anne Shirley’s Prince Edward Island might be oceans away from the Cobram district, but Madeline Simpson and John McLachlan-Troup are proof that friendship can blossom anywhere and at any time.

Madeline, 29, and John, 80, met in March through the Federal Government-funded Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme, a national program running under various names for the past 32 years.

While it’s still early days, any casual observer can see that the pair get along like a house on fire.

“It’s nice spending time together. We do laugh a lot,” said Madeline, who lives in Cobram East.

“I like hearing John’s stories. I like how excited he gets when he shows me photos of his family.”

Meanwhile, John treats Madeline like one of his own children — as if she’s part of his family.

John and Madeline meet for catch-ups at cafés and at John’s home in Katunga, spending their time together like good mates often do: by shooting the breeze and sharing yarns over a cuppa.

“I heard about it through a Facebook post that they put up on the Cobram community page,” Madeline said.

“And I just sussed it out. You could express interest in it, and I got a call from Sally [Hughes, of the Wangaratta Centre], who explained it a bit more, met me for a coffee, and then it went from there.”

Soon after, Madeline and John met across the road from the Bottom Pub at The Corner Shop.

“I had a close relationship with my grandparents, and I never saw them as being ‘old’,” Madeline said.

“They were really with it; they were switched on, they were still active and had good support networks.”

Madeline has always held a deep respect for the elderly. But it was when she visited nursing homes as part of a placement that the importance of support networks dawned on her.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a nursing home, but it just feels sad. It feels lonely. It feels like people are just sitting around, waiting to die. I didn’t like that feeling at all,” she said.

John was born in Plymouth, England, in 1945. His parents, who later emigrated with John and his siblings to Australia, met in an air raid shelter.

Having grown up on a soldier settlement block in Yarroweyah, John took up an electrician’s apprenticeship at Murray Goulburn Co-operative.

But then a road accident on the Toc Bends forced John out of work for two years.

John remembers the moment like it was yesterday: the paramedics hauling him from the wreckage of his Holden FJ, up the scarred road embankment and into their care.

With John’s deep respect for paramedics, perhaps it’s no surprise that he and Madeline get along as well as they do.

After all, Madeline is studying for her degree in paramedicine, pursuing her dream of becoming a paramedic. She’s also working as a first responder in Tatura.

John, who needs a walker to move around after leg surgery, enjoys the chance to get out of the house to spend time with Madeline.

“Just to have her company is really good,” John said.

Their friendship might seem a little out of the ordinary — what with the over half a century of years between them.

But to Madeline and John, that is no barrier to their friendship.

“I don’t think that our age difference plays any sort of role in our friendship,” Madeline said.

“I could get along with anyone of any age. And I think with the work I do, I’m around the older population quite a lot. So I find it really easy to build friendships, or, you know, build trust between myself and someone that’s a bit older.”

The national scheme that brought Madeline and John together allows volunteers to visit an older person for a catch-up once a fortnight.

It aims to promote support networks between the community and older people who are socially isolated.

In the Hume region, the Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme is run out of The Centre for Continuing Education.

All volunteers need to do to sign up is to undertake a national police check, commit to 12 months of fortnightly visits and undertake online training before beginning their visits.

Contact Stacey, Emma or Sally at The Centre for Continuing Education on 1300 843 236 for more information.