Red Cross Youth NTU Chapter brought festive cheer to the seniors at Active Aging Hub @ Toa Payoh, an organisation that provides integrated care for elderly individuals, during the Christmas season. Through interactive hybrid activities, the teams were able to engage and bring smiles to the elderly that joined in the celebration.
The team of 10 volunteers started the day with 30 seniors with some light exercise, followed by sing-along sessions with iconic Christmas tunes where seniors danced their hearts out. The team, while having fun with the seniors, also took special care to ensure their safety and made sure that they did not over-exert themselves.
After getting everyone pumped up for the rest of the day, the volunteers held a Christmas snack demonstration where they taught the seniors how to make a banana skewer using M&Ms and chocolate sprinkles. The team was touched to know that the seniors enjoyed this segment particularly as they had fun getting creative designing their own skewers. The volunteers took the chance to share more information on nutrition and food science, which they hope will heighten the seniors’ understanding of healthy living.
To round up the day, the team organised a Christmas tree paper origami folding session, where seniors were taught how to fold origami Christmas trees. After the trees were folded, the seniors decorated them with stickers. This proved to be a nice, mindful way to round up the day as many seniors seemed to enjoy the slow process of folding the trees while enjoying the Christmas tunes being played in the background.
The volunteers described having so much fun that the day seemed to fly by. They were satisfied that the seniors had an enjoyable time, and were able to get moving, get creative and hopefully learn something new.
I’ve learned how to be more confident in engaging and conversing with the elders at Care Corner. Even though it was a brief session, the experience of providing smiles and excitement to the elders was definitely unforgettable. It was gratifying to see the elders enjoying themselves and having a good time with the activities. Furthermore, this program improved my event planning and management abilities, which I aim to put to good use and improve future befriending sessions with the elderly. Lam Jia Yi, RCY NTU Community Engagement Main-Committee Member
About Red Cross Youth NTU Chapter
The NTU Chapter of the Singapore Red Cross Society attached to the Voluntary Aid Detachments Division was set up in July 1994.
The objectives of the Chapter are: To encourage and promote the participation of students and staff of NTU in the work of Red Cross; to furnish voluntary aid to the sick and suffering, and all those who require health education, first aid, nursing and welfare services in the University, and to provide voluntary support in such areas in University activities; to organize training and classes on subjects like first aid, CPR and others that fall within the objectives of the Society; to provide voluntary support to the Society in its various activities.
