END-of-life charity Shannon's Bridge has redistributed half a million dollars' worth of hospital and aged care equipment that otherwise would be in land fill.
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This is an ambitious project Shannon's Bridge co-founder Jeremy McKnight said the Creswick-based organisation "fell into" the past 11 months as a way to help those most in need.
The project does not make the charity any money. They just found themselves as a way to connect community groups and country hospitals with vital equipment.
Mr McKnight said many larger hospitals were constantly replacing equipment, from beds and walking frames, with newer models to meet their organisational requirements.
Shannon's Bridge is the legacy of Shannon McKnight, who died of leukaemia four years ago. She realised her wish to die at her home in Mount Glasgow, finding a way despite limited palliative care in the region.
Shannon wanted to ensure ways to help others find good care. The McKnights and her doctor Claire Hopper helped Shannon start with Shannon's Packs with medicines, tools and information to help people die more comfortably at home.
This is exactly what we want to happen, to get out and do good things like I promised my daughter we'd do.
- Shannon's Bridge co-founder Jeremy McKnight
"This is not about prestige or money. This is exactly what we want to happen, to get out and do good things like I promised my daughter we'd do," Mr McKnight said.
"Everyone is struggling health-wise because of COVID. This saves a lot of money going back out of health services. They'e in the same game we are, all over Victoria."
Sometimes it might be a call for equipment to allow someone palliative care at home. Mr McKnight said some hospital beds were worth $12,000 and rotated out of larger hospital circulation after a year.
Other times it might be working with Rotary and Lions clubs in a starter pack, worth $20,000, for country healthcare. This can be a mix of hoists, walkers and wheelchairs.
Rotary helps supply hospitals in need overseas and Shannon's Bridge has helped source equipment for as far as Russia, Fiji and western Europe.
Shannon's Bridge's key limitation is transport but most clubs and recipients tend to organise their pick-ups.
There was a need in Mallacoota last summer and Mr McKnight managed to travel into Gippsland and deliver before the bushfires set in.
Shannon's Bridge's Creswick hub promotes end-of-life care and aims to change attitudes about death and dying. This includes living well.
- READ MORE: Facing death with a smile in Creswick
The charity has also been working with the Creswick community this year to develop a sensory garden as an open, reflective place.
Community members from Creswick Aged Care, Creswick Primary and local businesses have donated time and tools to transform the space. Others have donated items that mean a lot to them and their loved ones.
Mr McKnight said it was all a big job but an important job: "There's a saying 'look at the stars, don't look at the mud all the time'".
Community goodness grows for garden
HAND-painted garden pavers appeared. The there were also the wind chimes bought with money Creswick Aged Care resident Kevin raised from selling the wooden birdhouses he crafted.
Creswick Primary School pupils still get in at times to paint the fence.
Shannon's Bridge co-founder Jeremy McKnight said it was amazing the community support that continued to play out amid the pandemic.
The charity, focusing on end-of-life care with a focus on living well, had put out the call about a month before lockdowns for ideas and volunteers in the community.
From the outset, this garden has been driven by community needs - what they would like to have in the sensory garden, what items they would like to contribute. A pizza oven and a four-metre tall wind sculpture were early donations.
Mr McKnight did not expect the support to keep coming under tight pandemic restrictions. The garden pavers were gifted by Creswick Aged Care's weekly garden club this month.
"There is plenty of goodness out there in the community," Mr McKnight said.
"When we threw it out there, We said the design was not up to us, but what you want.
"We want this to be a safe place for people to come if you're going through something, or if you've been through something. Lots of people have loved ones who have died they want to remember, or donating something to help them.
"Volunteers have been coming throughout, sticking to restrictions."
The garden, while a work in progress, is open to the community behind the Shannon's Bridge hub in Creswick's main street.
Creswick primary's hands-on learning group has been constructing planter boxes. In February, when the garden was a complete blank canvas, they spent time carefully considering where these planter boxes might best be placed.
There will be a labyrinth and a water fountain from Bethlehem Hospital is already in place.
Shannon's Bridge looked to transform the Creswick hub's back patch into a community sensory garden based on studies showing gardening can be good for mental health, while smells and textures can evoke fond memories and feelings.
Shannon's Bridge is the legacy of Shannon McKnight, who died with leukaemia four years ago. Shannon was 19 years old. She realised her wish to be cared for and to died in her Mount Glasgow home, despite limited access to palliative care.
The charity also works to change community attitudes about death and dying. The reflective sensory garden is a key part of this.
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