Beyond Words - The Biography Program

14/10/2026

Our volunteer biographer, Ian, found working with David extremely rewarding and felt it was a privilege to meet him!

The title of David’s biography, ‘It Wasn’t Boring’, is almost absurdly understated given David’s rich and varied life. He lived and worked in several countries and has known an extraordinary number of fascinating people. The ups and downs of life were characterised by resilience and good humour, with a traditional British attitude of making the best of things and getting on with it. 🇬🇧

09/10/2026

Our volunteer biographer, Kate, felt honoured to work with Ngaire and enjoyed hearing about her career as a teacher, her travels around the globe and her expertise in native gardens.
Kate then transformed the stories into a biography.

The presentation event was a large and joyful family gathering, full of shared stories and laughter. Portraits and photo albums were laid out around the room and a lovely spread of cakes and prosecco made the occasion feel truly celebratory. 🍰 🥂

As always, we thank the lifestyle coordination staff for assisting with these events.

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01/10/2026

Today is International Day of Older Persons where we celebrate older adults, challenge ageism and promote community inclusion. This is something our volunteers do every day with our storytellers and we are privileged to hear their stories.

23/09/2026

This article from The Guardian is not connected to Beyond Words, but the author's comment on her time working in aged care resonated with the work we do.

"My time there underlined how much we all matter, at all ages, and how we should take the time to share stories and acknowledge and appreciate each other."

I once asked a resident what she would do if she could do anything. She replied: ‘I’d run in a field’

02/09/2026

Our AGM (including volunteer forum) will be held on Saturday 12 September in Southbank. An invitation has been sent to all volunteers and company members – please check your junk mail folder if you haven't seen your invitation!

19/08/2026

Our biographer Kim enjoyed working with Gwenda to write her story.
Gwenda spent decades volunteering in many roles for Calisthenics Victoria and she received an OBE for her significant service, so it is wonderful one of our volunteers could contribute volunteer time back to Gwenda!
A fabulous morning tea was provided by the aged care residence to celebrate the presentation of the biography.

13/08/2026

This online event is on tomorrow discussing the 'Know Me' project to help aged care staff and volunteers better understand their residents.
(Run by Swinburne Wellbeing Clinic for Older Adults)

About the Webinar Providing person-centred care is challenging when staff don't truly know the person living with dementia — contributing to...

01/07/2026

As is so often the case with our storytellers, Max was not convinced that he had an interesting story to tell and was just ‘an ordinary sort of guy’. However, he had many stories of his travels over three decades – from outback Australia through to the Subcontinent, the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia and Asia. His photo collection with notations on the back helped elicit many details and stories.
Our volunteer biographer, Genevieve, said it was very satisfying to be able to pass on the printed volume of the biography and see Max looking very happy with the thickness of the end product!

29/06/2026

There is one more day to make a tax deductible donation for this financial year.
We receive no government funding, so if you are able to help us bring a story to life for someone living in aged care, we appreciate all donations, big or small!

https://www.givenow.com.au/thebiographyprogram

18/06/2026

Our volunteer biographer, Helen, is pictured presenting Vivienne's biography to her. One strong theme in the story was that Viv's father was instrumental in the design and manufacture of ambulances and cars with Ford in Geelong. Viv was very proud of his achievements and Helen now has a very good knowledge of car design!!