St Francis College students and Assumption Villa residents form bonds during weekly visits

Every week, boarding students from St Francis College visit Assumption Villa residents, with special friendships blossoming.

The initiative first started in 2022 for year 10 boarding students interested in participating.

That continued in 2023 for year 10 boarders, with many from last year's cohort also returning.

What has happened since is a complete transformation from stranger to friend between the students and Assumption Villa residents.

The weekly visits are something they all look forward to.

Both students and residents were shy and tentative at first, but now it is as though they are old buddies. They chat, sing, mingle and get to know one another.

Stories are shared and lessons learned across the generations.

Recently, the college students presented residents with potted plants as an early Christmas gift before residents returned the favour by singing Christmas songs for the group.

Singing is a favourite activity each week and it's common for the designated catch up space to be full to the brim.

College student Bridget Armitage said she has enjoyed forming a bond with the residents.

"We look forward to seeing their faces every week," she said.

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That is something her peer Kyah Daniel agreed with.

"My favourite thing is seeing the change in the residents ... on day one there wasn't much interaction, but now they sing with us, dance with us, chat with us," she said.

"We all get to know each other."

Both residents and students miss each other during the school holiday period, but rest assured the program will be running again in 2024.

Boarding supervisors Fran Artese and Billy Morton are hoping to extend the friendship and bond even further, with new ideas in the works to involve the residents in different activities during the visits.

Studies from the Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia have revealed around one in five older Australians are socially isolated.

This rises to a third of older people living in residential aged care. In a 2022 survey conducted by ARIIA, the Australian aged care workforce nominated social isolation as a priority topic for the sector.

Ms Artese was a major factor in getting the program up and running, but said it was the students and residents who deserved the credit for its success.

"It's been something everyone on both sides has gained so much from and it's been really lovely to watch," she said.

Assumption Villa residents have also written to the school, thanking the students for their weekly visits. One of those was Peter Schipp, who wrote how the visits have brought a "new dimension to my life".

"Time and distance can disconnect us from our own families at times and these children are such a bright spot in our week," he wrote.

"I am very impressed at the maturity of these young people and the way the girls and boys appear to be great comrades.

"They work together to bring great happiness to the villa and I feel more motivated after their visits."

It is a sentiment echoed by the students, with Tucker Collins saying knowing the visits were approaching each week allowed him to have something to look forward to.

"I love the bonds we have made ... it's amazing, they get a lot out of it and so do we," he said. "We love making them happy, but they make us happy too."

Student Stella Mallamace said the connections made was something that would stay with her for life. "It's such a great thing for all of us ... it's been amazing," she said.

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