My journey to Leisure Lea Gardens

At Leisure Lea Gardens, the staff members love welcoming new residents to the village. However, when the new resident has been referred by another Living Choice resident, it really warms their hearts!

Recently, Evalina Chan moved into the village and she kindly took the time to write her story on how Living Choice Glenhaven residents, Robyn and Bob Junor, referred her to Leisure Lea Gardens. Here is Evalina’s story:

“I know the Junors through the choir, the Mirrabooka Singers, that I joined in 2007. Robyn was already a long-time member then, and one of our star soloists. Around 2013/14, Robyn and Bob moved into Living Choice Glenhaven. Robyn knew I was interested in finding out about retirement villages, so she invited me and other members of the choir to their place one day as we were singing in a concert in the vicinity.

“I was really impressed by their villa, and what Bob and Robyn said about their living arrangements. It sounded like Living Choice was run by people who actually cared about people. I collected some information from the office there and started reading up about the story behind how Living Choice started. I told Robyn I was very interested, but that Glenhaven might be a little too far away from our children. Robyn mentioned that Living Choice had another village in Sydney that was quite close to where we lived.

I told my husband Rex about the Living Choice model, but I knew he was not prepared to consider leaving our home which he had built and had put so much of his energy into, over the years. So, the information was “parked”. I kept the brochures for years. I did briefly look up Leisure Lea Gardens but thought the smaller units would not be suitable for us, as I was thinking along the lines of the kind of villas I saw at Glenhaven.

Meantime, over the years, I continued to visit many retirement villages in Sydney through our choir concerts. But at the back of my mind, I thought, what a pity that nearer us, there was no room for developments like what we saw at Glenhaven.

Fast forward to April 2022. Six months after I lost my Rex, I felt I really needed to find more manageable accommodation. I could not continue to look after our 4-bedroom house by myself. After that I attended two Open Days and the rest, as they say, is history…

Robyn and I would like to thank Living Choice for the generous referral gift vouchers, but especially for the staff being here for us. Speaking for myself, I have felt “at home” from Day 1 at Leisure Lea. I’m happy to say I’m really glad I’m here, at home.”

Thank you, Evalina, for your touching story!

To find out more about Living Choice’s Referral Program, see Refer and Win – Living Choice Retirement Villages