VIV Simpson hates to see people feeling lonely or abandoned.
The Sawtell resident, who’s in his early seventies, spends much of his time with aged care residents or dementia patients who have no one else visiting or looking out for them.
“I consider it an honour,” he told News Of The Area.
“Just listening and having a chat, or taking them out for the day.”
Mr Simpson’s volunteer work with local aged care and nursing home facilities is just one of the reasons he has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours.
His citation “for service to the Coffs Harbour community” doesn’t mention the hours spent cleaning up roadside rubbish, or collecting cans and bottles to raise money to distribute locally.
“We made $6000 last year.”
Nor does it mention how he was a volunteer cook after the Lismore floods and that he collects old papers for animals at the RSPCA.
“He volunteers ‘just because’,” his friend Doris Cowan told NOTA.
She describes him as “an angel” who, together with his wife Jenny, “took her in” during a tough period in her life.
Mr Simpson even accompanied her on a recent trek of New Zealand’s Milford Sound.
Receiving news of his OAM was “a shock” but Mr Simpson hopes it will expose how many people in the community are living with loneliness .
“A lot of people feel afraid to just knock on their neighbour’s door and ask ‘are you okay’.
“And to listen and let people spill the beans.”
By Sue STEPHENSON
