150 Years of Stories
Many people and events have made up Abound Communities's 150 years. We would like you to meet some of the people and find out about the events that helped shape the organisation.
Braeside Park established after land donated to OCAV
April 27, 2019
The chance for Old Colonists’ Association of Victoria to develop a third village, this time in Berwick, came in 1973.
Read MoreAustralian television identity Bert Newton has helped many organisations raise money over the years, including the Old Colonists’ when he was a younger and more agile man.
Read MoreLady Viola Tait AC is one of the Association’s unsung Life Governors. A soprano, champion of new and emerging talent, and a theatre historian, she became a Life Governor of the Old Colonists in 1952.
Read MoreLeith Park is named after Arthur C Leith who became a Life Governor of OCAV in 1949, and later that year was appointed to the Association’s Council. In 1954, Leith was elected President and remained in that position until 1965.
Read MoreComposting isn’t new. Decades before rotating compost bins, organic farming and the landfill crisis hit the headlines, there were people, lots of them, who recognised the value of turning food scraps into nourishment for their gardens. And the Old Colonists’ Richard Weller was ahead of the pack in many respects because he could see that improving and nourishing the soil would lead to increased food production and beautiful flower gardens.
Read MoreLucy Coppin, the daughter of OCAV founder George Coppin, was a formidable woman. There are facts and anecdotes that paint a picture of a woman who successfully carried on many of her father’s endeavours, including the Old Colonists’ Association of Victoria.
Read MoreThe annual trip to Sorrento has its genesis in the early 1900s when Old Colonists were given free tram tickets by the Melbourne Tramway Board to travel to Port Melbourne where they boarded the s.s. Ozone to the Coppin’s’ home in Sorrento.
Read MoreThe worldwide influenza epidemic at the end of World War I was incomprehensibly huge. Between 20 and 40 million people died worldwide, far more than were killed in combat; some estimates are higher than 50 million. Australia’s casualties were around 12 or 13 thousand. OCAV took special steps to protect its residents.
Read MoreBenjamin Barnes, one of Victoria’s earliest engineers, knew what it was like to live in poverty. So much so that he bequeathed 1400 pounds to build a cottage at the Old Colonists’ village in Rushall Park, and 400 pounds to endow it.
Read MoreJohn Birt entertained a lot of people when he was alive. In death, he continued to amuse people – or so others thought.
Read MoreJosephine Katite may be a long way from Kenya, where she was born and lived until 2005 but the experience of looking after her elderly grandparents is very much with her every day in her work at Liscombe House.
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