To celebrate Seniors Week, CatholicCare recieved a $500 NSW Seniors Grant from the NSW Government to hold a special day for seniors to celebrate their lives.

NSW Seniors Week grants are provided through Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) to support the development and organisation of local NSW Seniors Week projects. There were a total of 441 grant applications received and 267 projects funded.

With this grant, CatholicCare held and 'Introduction to Spirituality and Ageing' day. The idea of having a day that could attempt to attend to the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs of seniors came to fruition with the support from Fr Ron Peters, multi-talented CatholicCare staff, generous volunteers and the hospitality of the Principal, teachers and talents of the students of St Brigids Primary School Gwynneville.

The day started with a mass, and allowed seniors to meet new people and be encouraged to interact and share on many different levels. The 46 attendees then made their way down the hall where they were warmly greeted by CatholicCare staff and volunteers who then gave a floral corsage and a name tag to each person.

Following the morning tea, a talk on 'Growing Older Gracefully' was presented by Aged Care Advocate Carmen Karauda. This presentation included music, information, spiritual reflection and an opportunity for one-to-one sharing. The seniors were direct, honest and very heartfelt with their individual responses which they then kindly shared with the larger group.

This day allowed seniors to reflect upon their lives, explore various attitudes towards ageing and discuss how they could handle the challenges they may face in the future.