In praise of Active Ageing Centres (AACs)

With the help of NVPC earlier this year, the Chamber identified 2 underserved causes for members to think about supporting as part of their own volunteer activities. First, increasing the variety of activities in AACs for the benefit of senior citizens living nearby and, second, providing a variety of respite activities for care givers so they can “come up for air”.

We are so proud of Chamber members who joined our team last Friday at a void deck party organized by Jalan Besar AAC in collaboration with NVPC. The dedicated AAC teams across the island seek to befriend senior citizens many of whom live alone. The goal is to engage them in activities to reduce loneliness, increase social connections and improve the quality of their lives. Seniors are also able to access community health services and, where able, contribute to the community via the AACs. It was great to see so many senior volunteers last Friday.

Despite the sweltering heat, the senior citizens, Chamber members and our team had a great time in the kick-off group activity which was a different version of the scissors-paper-stone game. The fun continued with a lively bingo game that kept everyone on their toes (prizes helped!). Refreshments were then served to the senior citizens by the volunteers and our team and a karaoke session rounded off the party.

The Chamber thanks its members for volunteering and showing leadership, NVPC for the connection, the senior citizens for being so welcoming and the super energetic Jalan Besar AAC team for including us and demonstrating their extraordinary commitment and dedication.

Why doesn’t your company adopt an AAC near you and volunteer with the AAC team? Contact Derek Yang if you’d be interested to learn more.