Penrith City Council has come under fire from participants of their Active Ageing Group, after the fitness program was cancelled.
Resident Leanne Ulrich has been involved in the group for over a year, starting in Council’s Geri-Fit program, following an injury which left her needing some extra fitness.
“I started in May 2023 because I had an injury to my lower leg, and it was exercises that were chair exercises,” she said.
“It was so that we could do weights and exercises that would strengthen our bones and our muscles and keep us more mobile, and active in the community.”
The classes have been on every week on Tuesday mornings at Penrith City Library during the school term, with a variety of fitness options to keep things interesting.
“We’ve had a lady who used to be a circus act, we did chair dancing with her, or you could get up and dance, the yoga’s been really popular,” she said.
“We were told it stops that frozen shoulder, and the muscles.”
Ulrich said that the classes have also been incredibly popular, bolstering the benefits for both their social and mental health as well.
“We have at least 20 people per class, and we were told that there was a list of 40 people who’d like to participate but they just don’t have the room,” she said.
However, the group received some bad news when they came back for the term.
“When we came back from our holiday, we were told on Tuesday that the library was going to use their resources in other ways, and that they were cancelling the Active Ageing program, which was a big disappointment to everybody, because we’ve all gotten so much out of it,” she said.
“We have ladies in their late 80s that do it, and it just keeps everybody mobile, keeps everybody active, and keeps us out of nursing homes.”
In a statement to the Weekender, Council said that there hasn’t been a waitlist for the group in some time.
“The Library Programs Team recently completed a review of the library outreach and programming services from the endorsed Penrith Library Services Strategy 2023-28. The review highlighted the importance of the library providing a diverse range of adult programs that cater for a wide variety of community groups,” it said.
“The Active Ageing Program was identified as reaching a relatively small number of people. Attendees were notified in advance that the program would cease at the end of September (Term 3), in order to give them time to find an alternative if they wish to continue their fitness program. A range of alternatives have been given to attendees.”
Ulrich confirmed that Council did provide alternatives, however these would not be suitable for the elderly participants due to a lack of easy access via public transport, and more lengthy waitlists.
“They outlined some places we could go to, but transport is hard for some of the people who don’t drive,” she said.
“There was another one that was suggested to us, but one of the ladies said she goes there and there’s a long waiting list to get on.”
Ulrich emphasised the importance of providing resources and outlets for elderly people in the local community.
Cassidy Pearce
Cassidy Pearce is a news and entertainment journalist with The Western Weekender. A graduate of the University of Technology Sydney, she has previously worked with Good Morning Macarthur and joined the Weekender in 2022.