By Helen McKenzie-Fairlie
Who would imagine the beautiful butterfly that emerges from the cocoon of a very hungry caterpillar?
When 60 senior citizens from Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong embarked on a ten-week program that would, through strength and balance training, transform them into vibrant, confident men and women ready to fly into the fullness of later life, they may not have imagined this outcome at the outset.
In February 2025, I was a very hungry caterpillar, wondering if I would ever emerge from the cocoon of injury. After breaking my leg in April 2024, undergoing complex surgery, and then spending three and a half weeks in hospital, followed by months of rehabilitation, I was still struggling to walk confidently, retain my balance and regain the muscle mass I had lost. When my rehabilitation funding ran out and I could no longer access the specialised exercise program the physio had organised, I was desperate for an exercise program that targeted balance, stability and confidence. When the upcoming Thrive in 2025 program was advertised in the local paper, promising an exercise program that enabled older adults to “stay strong and independent”, the butterfly in me began to feel free.
I enrolled in Thrive in 2025 at the Seniors Exercise Park in Donald McLean Reserve, Spotswood. Would my leg, hip, and core muscles be strengthened? Would I begin to walk like my former confident self. For the next ten weeks, I arrived at 10 am, completed the one-hour program, balancing precariously on the gangway, struggling up and down steps, working my way through all ten challenging pieces of equipment, and then going home. Nineteen friendly faces greeted me when I arrived. Nineteen friendly faces who, gradually, began sharing their life stories and reasons for embarking on Thrive in 2025. Nineteen faces who, over ten weeks, had become part of the fabric of my life.
At the program’s close our transformation was evidenced by assessment results. Our balance had improved by 38%, and leg strength had increased by 23%. We had all begun the program with areas of our physical wellbeing that needed to be addressed. We had all completed the program with an increased confidence, balance, and stability. We could have, at the close, flown away and not seen each other again. But ten weeks of working together, on an exercise program that had ongoing benefits, had melded us into a group that now continues to meet weekly and follow the program. A group that encourages its members to gain confidence in a healthy, fulfilling future. A group that has transformed itself from a group of individuals to a genuinely caring and cohesive community.
As older citizens, we have the privilege of evaluating our lives and the freedom to choose a future that is purposeful and productive and includes meeting at Donald McLean Reserve where our strength and wellbeing continues to be transformed, like butterflies that have now left their caterpillar cocoons behind.
Now that the formal program has finished, sessions with volunteer Champions trained by a Hobsons Bay City Council initiative continue Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10.00 am. New participants are welcomed and mentored in using the equipment that now has a shade sail for protection against the sun and rain.
May those who launched the program and those who, like Rosa McKenna, keep it moving forward see many more senior citizen butterflies emerge from their caterpillar cocoons.
*Thrive in 2025 launched by Dr Liz Cyarto and funded by the Victorian Government through the West Gate Tunnel’s Project West Gate Neighborhood Fund.
