Virtual Active Living Fair will give seniors valuable tips from comfort of home

As temperatures rise and roofing and parking lot work continues at the Aurora Seniors' Centre and Town Hall, the Centre is going virtual with tips on how seniors can stay active and engaged in the community.

The Centre will host a virtual Seniors Active Living Fair on Tuesday, July 28, over Zoom and telephone.

It's a bonus version of their in-person Seniors' Active Living Fair, traditionally held in September each year, designed to promote accessibility and break down barriers.

“Accessibility is one of the biggest things we really want to promote within the Centre, so if you're at home, you don't drive, we want no barriers to be a factor, and it's the full day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.,” says Andrew Bailey, Adult/Older Adult Coordinator for the Town of Aurora.

The virtual Seniors' Active Living Fair will feature several guest speakers, seminars, and activities, including talks on safeguarding yourself against frauds and scams, chair fitness, a session on maintaining and improving balance, cooking demonstrations, a live tour of Ripley's Aquarium, and much more.

“This definitely brings the community together,” says Bailey, adding the Centre has seen ever-growing success with its virtual programs, a menu of offerings which were really honed during the global pandemic. “We have really strengthened our virtual programming. A lot of our programs are accessible via Zoom and we have hybrid models. We do offer outreach programs as well, whether it is our Without Walls program, which is done over the phone or Zoom, offered six days a week for free by the Town. We also have a Seniors' Centre in the Mail program that goes out [to almost 500] monthly – a pack our team puts together with various Sudoku, crosswords, colouring pages, and information about the Centre. It's a great way for members who don't frequently come into the Centre, those who have moved away, for them to really see all that is going on and stay connected.

“The Centre is not just a hub for our members to come and enjoy. We really are just a crucial space for a lot of our members. We're so fortunate to have a lot of support from our Council and Mayor as well as the Provincial Government and we're really fortunate to just have a lot of great tools for us to deliver programs in-person and virtually to Aurora residents and the community.”

Additional support recently came to the Centre from the Provincial Government.

As The Auroran reported last week, the Centre has received a grant of $7,650 from the Ontario Seniors Community Grant Program, to create a multi-part program for older adults this fall called Living Your Best Life in Aurora.

“It's a six-part series helping older adults in the community explore landmarks in the Town,” says Bailey. “We're going to be doing seminars, lunch off-site, provide information sessions on healthy eating, mental health, and an introduction to public health as well to allow older adults to tap into that resource. We have a lot of members with mobility challenges as well and we wanted to make a program that was as accessible as possible for our members and the community.

“We also have a lot of folks who are hesitant in using public transit, and we're trying to create that education piece to allow them to be more comfortable to use public transit and explore some options that are available in the community other than the Seniors' Centre. This will be the first time we're offering something like this.”

For more information about the Aurora Seniors' Centre, its upcoming events, and membership, visit auroraseniors.ca or call 905-726-4767.

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter