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About Resthaven
Established in 1935, Resthaven Incorporated is respected for the delivery of high quality, responsive, accredited services for older South Australians and their carers.
A Public Benevolent Institution, Resthaven is a separately incorporated and financially independent community service associated with the Uniting Church in Australia.
Residential Aged Care
For those who require residential aged care, Resthaven’s fully accredited residential care facilities offer high quality care, residential respite accommodation, secure units for people with memory loss and meaningful leisure and lifestyle programs.
Examples of lifestyle activities offered at Resthaven include:
• Current Affairs e.g. newspaper reading and discussion groups
• Knowledge programs
• Poetry and Brainteaser Quizzes
• Bingo
• Cards and Board Games
• Bus trips
• Armchair travel
• Carpet bowls
• Reminiscence sessions
• Music and concerts
• Men’s group
• Guest speakers
Retirement Living
Resthaven’s retirement living villages and apartments offer privacy, security, and a community atmosphere, providing independence with peace of mind.
Six fabulous unique villages are co-located with an aged care home - Bellevue Heights, Leabrook, Malvern, Marion, Paradise and Port Elliot. Resthaven also has stand-alone retirement villages in a range of locations across South Australia. These are ideal for older people who want centrally located accommodation with the independence to come and go as they please.
In addition, On Statenborough provides luxury retirement living, with a resort-style retirement community located in the prestigious suburb of Leabrook.
Home & Community Care
Resthaven provides a range of in-home services which provide support for older people in their own homes.
Resthaven offers in-home care and support to older people living throughout metropolitan Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills, Murraylands, Riverland, the Fleurieu and the Limestone Coast. Rehabilitation and wellness centres are located at Elizabeth, Marion, Woodville, Murray Bridge and Paradise.
Services depend on the needs of the individual and a Resthaven Coordinator will work with you, and your family and friends if you wish, to create a home care plan for your needs.
The amount of care provided depends on the extent of a person’s care needs, ranging from one hour a week for lower care to much more for those with more complex support needs.
Respite for carers
Resthaven offers a range of in-home, small group, centre based and overnight respite options. All residential facilities offer short-term residential respite accommodation.
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Last month, the $36m major redevelopment of Resthaven Bellevue Heights was officially opened by Manager Residential Services, Jessica Margrate, and Board Member, Rev Dr Graham Vawser.
On Sunday 11 May, Resthaven staff, volunteers, families, and Uniting Church officials joined parishioners gathered at the Malvern Uniting Church to hold a ‘Service of Thanksgiving’ for Resthaven. Around 160 people attended the service to celebrate the official opening of “Rest Haven” by Lady Isabel Kidman 90 years ago on 11 May 1935.
When Resthaven Malvern was in the market for a new cook, managers at the site asked resident Mr Ian Weekley to join them during the interview process. Ian, who has lived at Resthaven since May 2024 is part of the site’s Menu Meetings and provides regular feedback to Resthaven on the quality, taste, and nutrition of his meals.
In celebration of Resthaven’s 90th anniversary, and coinciding with South Australia’s History Festival (1-31 May), Resthaven has just launched its new ‘living history’ website: Resthaven: A History of Caring.
Resthaven Marion resident, Mr Harry Berger, is pleased that the AFL season is back in full swing! Harry, who was born in Wales, moved to Australia as a young man and began working as a salesman. ‘One of the first clients I visited asked me which football team I barracked for,’ Harry says. ‘At the time I didn’t support anyone, but my client offered me some sage advice. He said “pick an Australian Rules team to follow so you have something to talk to your clients about.”’
When Merridy Baylis, Resthaven’s Executive Manager Clinical Governance and Operational Excellence, decided to enter the aged care sector in 2020, she knew she would face a steep learning curve. However, as an experienced ICU nurse and senior clinician, Merridy is known as someone who rises to a challenge, and the move has proven to be eye-opening and truly fulfilling.
Resthaven Paradise and Eastern Community Services (PECS) client Mr Kerry Corrigan is living proof of the benefits that exercise can bring. A member of the PECS Parkinson’s Support Group, Kerry says that before he joined the group, he couldn’t raise his arms higher than his shoulders. ‘But look at me now,’ he smiles, raising both hands high up above his head.
In March 2018, Allan White and Michael Asims sat next to each other at their first TAFE lecture for Certificate III Individual Support (Ageing and Disability). Both were considering the aged care sector for their ‘second career’, and the pair gravitated towards each other – quickly forming a shared respect and friendship.
One of the most important conversations any individual may have with their loved ones or care providers is around their wishes concerning death and dying. That is why at Resthaven, advance care planning conversations are encouraged at all stages of life, as well as being elevated through training for all employees, and with hands-on support and guidance from Resthaven’s specially trained palliative care nurses, Karen Gregory and Claire Tan.
On Friday, 28 February, Resthaven held its 2025 Excellence Awards. The event recognised and celebrated Resthaven’s staff and volunteers, and the valuable and important work they do to contribute to the outstanding care and support of older people and their carers.
Held at the Wolf Blass Centre, Morphettville, almost 300 people attended the event, including the 80 award finalists, people who had nominated them, and special guests. Nominations for the awards were received from Resthaven residents, clients and families, as well as colleagues – with more than 1,800 nominations received.
Formal recognition programs, flexible work arrangements, increased rates of pay and additional leave entitlements are just some of the transformations Resthaven’s Executive Manager People & Culture, Sylvia Powell, has championed since joining Resthaven in 2020.
Coming on board soon after the appointment of CEO Darren Birbeck, the pair have worked together with the executive management team to boost the culture and conditions at Resthaven. They each strongly believe in workforce development and in celebrating the success of others. This International Women’s Day they are doing just that, while continuing to take steps to question unconscious bias, challenge discrimination and bring awareness to the areas where women’s equality is still a work in progress.
‘Wellness’ is a term that we hear a lot these days – and with good reason. The deliberate pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyle habits that improve our holistic health can lead to greater feelings of fulfillment and a better quality of life – something that is important at any age. Resthaven supports older people to pursue wellness, and this has been taken up a notch recently with the creation of a new position – the Community Wellness Manager.
Resthaven is proud to celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2025 with a series of events, activities and concerts to be held across all of Resthaven’s residential, community services and retirement lifestyle sites.
‘Ninety years ago, in the coastal southern suburb of Brighton, Resthaven opened its doors for the first time,’ Darren Birbeck, Resthaven CEO says. ‘Formed from the belief that older women with nowhere to live deserved charitable accommodation, members of the Methodist Church set about establishing this home.’
For Resthaven Mitcham resident Anne Joyce, it’s almost as if things have come full circle. Anne enjoyed a 22-year career at the Resthaven site, and in May 2024 returned to her old stomping ground as a resident.
Sharing a birth year with Resthaven – both are celebrating 90 years in 2025 – Anne says that a life of hard work and dedication has brought her great satisfaction. It was a chance meeting in the car park that led to her employment at Resthaven.
In answering the call for pen pals to connect with others across the world, Resthaven Western Community Services client, Sylvia Ryan could never have known the impact it would have on the rest of her life.
Her letter, introducing herself and describing her hometown of Los Angeles, arrived at the home of Dennis Ryan, who was living at Willunga in South Australia. He wrote back, describing the daily routines that were happening on his parent’s mixed-use farm, and what he was doing in his job as a foreman at the council.
A piece of advice given to Resthaven Marion Community Services client Mrs Lesley Burgess when she was in her 40s was, ‘You’re never too old to learn a new skill’. Following her interests in dance and music, this is something Lesley has taken to heart.
A former employee of Resthaven, Lesley shares her birth year with Resthaven and will turn 90 in 2025. She learnt to swim when she was almost 50, took up tap dance at 43, and learnt the banjo at 65. Lesley continues to bring new skills into her life with scrapbooking, knitting, quilting and embroidery. Alongside all these achievements, Lesley says that the biggest event in her lifetime was the ‘meeting, engagement and wedding to my husband, Ray.’
At 16, Resthaven Westbourne Park resident Wilfred (Wilf) Gelsthorpe won his first talent competition. It was in Sheffield, England, at a local pub.
‘My brother’s friend kept entering these competitions,’ Wilf says. ‘But he never won. I was always whistling away, so they encouraged me to have a go and on my first competition I scored a perfect 30 – 10/10 from each of the three judges!’
Resthaven CEO, Darren Birbeck, says, ‘I am pleased to announce a major redevelopment at Marion, with plans currently with the City of Marion for development approval. Resthaven Marion celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, so this major redevelopment is timely.’
Resthaven Western Community Services client Mrs Diana Simons (nee MacFarlane), 89, has taught swimming at just about every public swimming pool in South Australia – and all the beaches. She has swum in every state in Australia and even has a few records under her belt. But, it was a bellyflop in an aboveground pool at a business on Anzac Highway that gave her one of her greatest rewards – a swimming pool of her own.
Sitting in his lounge room, in the home he helped to build with his own two hands, Resthaven Paradise and Eastern Community Services client Mr Daniel Justus has come a long way, both literally and figuratively, since his birth 100 years ago in the former Yugoslavia.
Resthaven’s Executive Manager Clinical Governance & Operational Excellence, Tina Cooper, will retire from her position as of 16 December 2024. A strong and dedicated member of Resthaven’s senior team for the past 15 years, Tina leaves a legacy of clinical excellence and advocacy for older people. Her influence on sector-wide policy and best practice was felt keenly during the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, as well as during the Covid pandemic when her expertise was called upon by state leaders as they considered the impact of restrictions on older people within our community.
Resthaven Westbourne Park resident Mrs Helen Doley spends her days thinking of others. Whether it’s sewing clothing items for the charity Samaritan’s Purse or making cards to donate to an organisation caring for families of road accident victims, Helen finds joy and purpose in using her skills to brighten someone else’s day.
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Wayville, South Australia
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