Vision Australia is celebrating the 40th anniversary of our Telelink service, which connects people who are blind or have low vision from across Australia.
For a significant portion of that four decades, Janene Sadhu has been a part of Telelink’s success as a volunteer facilitator.
Janene started with Telelink in the 1980s and helped make sure Telelink participants could easily access the recently founded program.
“I was unemployed for a little while in 1983- 1984 and Telelink’s founder and first coordinator Jennifer Gibbons invited me to volunteer for Telelink,” Janene said.
“We would call clients every couple of months to make sure things were going okay and they were able to access Telelink,” she said.
Caption: Janene has been a long-time Telelink volunteer
Janene did take a break from her volunteer role, but has returned to facilitate two regular Telelink groups, a monthly book club and a weekly sports discussion.
Such is the bond between participants in the weekly sports group that members have attended funerals of members that have sadly passed away.
“I’ve been coordinating a group which meets to talk about sport at 11 O’clock each Friday for about eight years now,” she said.
“It feels like we’re dropping in with friends.
“Several people who used to be in the group have passed away over the years and groups of us have attended their funerals.”
While facilitators like Janene are volunteers, she said the training from the Vision Australia Telelink is what makes the program so successful.
“We have a team working from Kooyong we can contact and they can help sort out any problems at a very early stage.
“The volunteers are also well trained and well looked after, which I think is one of the main reasons why Telelink is so successful.”
While the Telelink program has come a long way in the past 40 years, Janene said it’s always been an important social outlet for the blind and low vision community.
“I’ve always thought Telelink reduces isolation and enhances well-being.
“It enables people to stay connected without having to leave their homes.
“Some people in my groups participate more than others but they’re always accepted as part of the group and made to feel welcome.”
If you or someone you know would like to get involved with Telelink, or if you would just like to know more, please phone Vision Australia on 1300 847 466 or email the Telelink team at [email protected].