“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” says Eleanor Clinton. “I love my job. I walk out happier at the end of the day than when I walked in.”
The Lifestyle Coordinator at Uniting AgeWell Newnham Community Aldersgate Village, who was awarded a prestigious internal AgeWell Award for excellence in residential care in Tasmania last year, shares what really warms her heart. “Hearing residents, at the age of 93, exclaim after an activity or an outing, ‘Wow, I’ve never done that before.”
Eleanor brings her own special brand of enthusiasm and joy to the role, taking great pride in providing residents with a range of fun activities that offer new experiences and challenges.
Earlier this year she ran the Aldersgate Village water-bombing event that is such sloshy fun it’s now held annually. She’s also helping organise the Family Fun Fair for the entire community complete with rides and a dog jumping show at the site on Saturday 12 April. So, keep this date open!
She’s still grateful she decided to give up her adventuring and return to her roots in Beaconsfield, just north of Launceston, and pursue a career with meaning.
Eleanor spent ten years travelling and working across the world – from Europe to Asia, from New Zealand to North and South America – and finally threw up her job in New York to return home to Tasmania.
“Tourism was fun, but I wanted to be able to make a real difference in the lives of others. I’ve always been drawn to older people and studying a Cert 1V in Leisure and Health was the best career move I ever made.”
Four of her ten years of adventuring was spent in a campervan travelling the length and breadth of Australia.
“But honestly, Tasmania offers it all,” she explains. “Beautiful beaches for swimming and kayaking, playing in the snow on Cradle Mountain in winter, world-class hiking trails, incredible scenery especially the rugged, wild west coast and the friendliest people on the planet.”
But she says one of her main reasons for returning home was to raise a family in the peaceful, environment that Tasmania offers. “My two children are safe and happy,” she says.
International Women’s Day is an important opportunity for Uniting AgeWell to recognise the impact of our valued members of staff, like Eleanor, and to reaffirm our commitment to providing truly inclusive career pathways.
With 78 per cent of the workforce identifying as female, Uniting AgeWell offers a range of career benefits inluding flexible work arrangements to enable staff to work around their family commitments.
To explore your career opportunities at Uniting AgeWell, go to unitingagewell.org/careers, call 1300 783 435 or email your resume to [email protected].
On International Women's Day and every day in many ways, women employed by Uniting AgeWell are making a difference to people’s lives.
This is an opportunity to recognise the impact of valued members of the Uniting AgeWell team and to re-affirm our commitment to providing truly inclusive career pathways.
