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Stories of #GoodChange

May 2025

Volunteers Help Foster Connections Across the Generations

Two women, one senior and one of the youth volunteers, from different generations sit at a table painting vibrant sunflower and abstract floral artworks. The green-clothed table holds art supplies, while a photo of two smiling children in colorful clothes is displayed in the background.

Connection Through Creativity, proudly sponsored by the Inner West Council, is an intergenerational art program designed by Good Neighbours Australia (GNAU) to foster connections between young adults and senior members of multicultural communities.

Through the four-week art classes, held in April 2025 at Marrickville Library, participants came together to create beautiful artworks, while also building meaningful relationships across the generations.

Fostering a sense of community and shared creativity, the program was originally designed in response to social isolation, caused as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to connect seniors from multicultural communities with young people, to help reduce loneliness and strengthen intergenerational bonds.

The program taps into a pool of young adult volunteers, provided through the Australian Catholic University’s (ACU) Community Engagement initiative. 

“The Connection Through Creativity program encourages the students to put their learning into action, develop their communication skills, and gain valuable insights through working with diverse communities”, said Sylvia Lee, Executive Director of GNAU.

“We really want to commend our most recent student recruits for their contribution and commitment to the program. They brought loads of energy and enthusiasm to the sessions… and our senior participants loved having the younger generation around”, said Ms Lee.

The student and senior participants worked together to create four stunning paintings: a Vietnamese bay, a Philippine beach, the Lao national flower (Frangipani), and the Ukrainian national flower (Sunflower). These artworks represent four of the international communities, supported through Good Neighbours’ development programs.

“I had a wonderful time,” ACU student volunteer, Anais, shared. “We met lots of different people from the community, partnered up, and completed four painting activities. It was very relaxing and allowed for great conversations.”

Sue, one of the senior participants, learned about the program through the Inner West Council library network. “It was fantastic, really good. Thank you to all those who organised it”, she said.

She particularly enjoyed being partnered with a volunteer. “I really enjoyed sitting next to Harry, as well as having more free time to do something creative.”

GNAU looks forward to continuing this initiative through its upcoming October 2025 sessions. 

In the meantime, see the highlights of the April 2025 session, here:

Two women sit at a table painting sunflowers on canvas. In the background, a large photo of two smiling children is displayed. Volunteers are invited to join Connection through Creativity, an intergenerational art project coming in April 2025.
A young man and an older woman from different generations smile while holding vibrant sunflower paintings. They wear aprons in a bright room with others in the background, sponsor logos, and a Good Change for the World banner at the bottom.
A group of people from different generations sits at tables painting flower designs on canvases, smiling and enjoying a creative workshop. The room is bright with wooden walls. Logos for Good Neighbours Australia and Inner West are shown in the image corner.
Two people from different generations sit side by side, painting similar landscapes with blue skies, green hills, and a lake. Their hands work together with paintbrushes. Logos for Good Neighbours Australia and Inner West appear on the image.
Two people from different generations stand indoors at an art event, smiling and holding a colorful painting of sunflowers. Other participants work at tables in the background. Logos for Good Neighbours Australia and Inner West are visible on the image.
An elderly woman smiles while holding a painting of yellow and white flowers, celebrating creativity across generations. She wears a green apron and stands in a room with others painting. Logos for Good Neighbours Australia and Inner West appear on the image.
A young man and an older woman from different generations stand side by side, smiling and holding up their landscape paintings of green mountains, water, and red boats. Both wear aprons. Logos for Good Neighbours Australia and Inner West are visible.
A group of people from different generations sit at tables covered with green cloth, painting landscape scenes on canvases in a well-lit room. The event is sponsored by Inner West and Good Neighbours Australia.
Two young men from different generations sit at a table painting on canvases, smiling at the camera. Art supplies are scattered on the table. Promotional logos for Good Neighbours Australia and Inner West appear on the image.
A diverse group of people from different generations are smiling and holding colorful sunflower paintings in a bright room. A green sign reads Making A Better World. The image features logos for Good Neighbours Australia and Inner West.

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