A new club for like-minded seniors has officially launched in Eastridge.
Offering breakaways, day trips, arts and crafts and general get-togethers, the Ethel’s Place Seniors’ Club has been active for little over two months and was officially launched on Tuesday last week.
The Ethel’s Place Seniors’ Club was established by community worker Beatrice Roberts.
Roberts, chairperson of the club, has had a successful club for more than 18 years and decided to start a new one to service the community around Ethel’s Place in Eastridge.
The seniors are all older than 50 and get together every Tuesday.
“I am very involved in the community. Before the seniors’ club I was involved in other activities in the community. I saw that seniors have nowhere to go. Their children are often only around on pension day,” says Roberts.
“No senior should feel as though they are alone, nor be used by their kids and grandchildren.
“It is important for youth and adults of these seniors to know that we should take every opportunity to help make their grace years enjoyable and trouble free,” says Ashley Potts, director of Ethel’s Place and seniors’ club coordinator.
“We only have them for a short while. We should be guided towards caring and supporting our seniors while we still have them. Seniors need to know that they are needed and should not just grow old, but allow what God gave them to be shared in their community. Their wisdom should be shared. They have purpose even at this ripe old age.”
The aim is to make the seniors feel special and included with weekly get-togethers and the celebration of birthdays.
Ethel’s Place, situated in Civet Street, was formerly a homeless shelter for children and now houses the Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre.
Ethel’s Place was opened in 1989 and founded by Pastor Alfred Fabe.
Fabe was the lead pastor of Faith Chapel Church on the abutting property.
“The motivation was the homeless. The building was supposed to be my house but I already had one and we created Ethel’s Place. There were around 20 homeless children here and there were a lot of success stories from it. It was to be used for the community,” he says.
“It is great to see that it is still serving the community.”
Potts adds that Ethel’s Place has always been involved in the five pillars of the community, namely children, youth, adults, seniors, and people with disabilities.
“We have done a lot of outreach in the community to encourage family values and participation. Helping children respect their parents, parents understand their children, and making sure seniors are not neglected,” says Potts.
For Fabe, it has come full circle as he has also joined the seniors’ club.
Roberts is also available for information on Sassa grants, C3 notifications and acquiring ID documents for seniors.
There are currently 40 members and the club is open to all seniors.