Newcastle Legacy is calling on the community to join the 92-year-old institution in supporting veterans and their families this Anzac Day. The 'Operation Rosemary' recruiting drive aims to bring on board new volunteers to train as 'Legatees', who work directly with Legacy families to provide support and friendship.
A Legatee is a volunteer who helps the loved ones of those who gave their lives or health for the country, fulfilling a promise made in the trenches of World War I: 'I'll look after the missus and kids'. Legacy and its legatees have been keeping that promise ever since.
With only nine legatees servicing 500 widows and veteran families, Newcastle Legacy is urgently seeking locals to volunteer. Legatee and former president Lorraine O'Connor, who has been with Legacy for 17 years after a Navy career, said they are desperate for more volunteers. 'There is always a job for somebody, it doesn't matter what your skill base is,' she said.
Carol Ryan has been supported by Legacy since losing her husband to pancreatic cancer in 2021 and now gives back by volunteering. 'I was just so lonely and lost, but the ladies up here have been so lovely and they just look after you,' she said. 'It just stopped the loneliness and I always knew there was someone who would pick up the phone to talk.'
Newcastle Legacy covers from Murrurundi down to Gwandalan in the south and out to Fingal Bay in the east, with 700 beneficiaries. The organisation appeals to people with volunteer leave, recent retirees, and stay-at-home parents to become legatees and help keep the promise alive.
