What is your name?
Timmity Murray (don’t ask, I was born in the 70s and my mum was a hippie!)
What is your current role?
Volunteer Coordinator for the In Great Company team
How long have you been in this role?
I have been with the In Great Company volunteer for almost four months now and love the team and the role. I originally joined Aspire4Life, which is under the umbrella of Feros Care, as a Rostering Liaison for the Regional Assessment team in 2021. I came
across to the Social Program’s team in August 2022 to roll out a Social Prescription project called ‘Healthy Me, Healthy Community’. Once I completed my role in the project, I started with the In Great Company in December 2022.
Tell us about your background?
I was born in Mona Vale in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, then moved up to Northern New South Wales with my family. I was at university and working at The Beach Hotel in Byron Bay at the age of 19 when I met my husband Scott over the bar.
We travelled the world together for a year before coming back to Australia and settling down to married life. We have been married for 25 years and have two sons, Sam aged 24 and Max aged 22.
My husband and sons are all carpenters, and we have a carpentry contracting business which keeps them all very busy. We are a very close family and travel together regularly. They all surf and we are always close to the ocean. We all live on the same
property together which is a few minutes from our local beach with our Persian cat ‘Coco’ and two dogs, ‘Ziggy’ the kelpie, and ‘Chilli’ our lovable but cheeky border collie.
Tell us about the most recent exciting trip!
We have just returned from Indonesia, Bali for my 50th birthday trip. There were 10 of us travelling, including family and friends.
We had an amazing time travelling from the mainland to Lembongan Island. We travelled by boat around the Lembongan, Ceningan and Penida Islands, snorkelling with manta rays, and floating in the ocean looking at coral and beautiful fish.
My mum and aunty who travelled with us took lots of children’s clothes, shoes, and soft toys to share with the children of the island and they were overjoyed when we handed them out which was such a special moment. I will be filling my bags again
later this year and taking more clothes and shoes to hand out across the Islands again. What a great trip! Many special memories were made.
What are your hobbies and interests?
I love all animals. If I could run an animal shelter, I would, and look after all creatures great and small. I love walking our dogs Chilli and Ziggy every morning down through the countryside which I find such a peaceful way to start my day. I grew up
always having a horse and riding which I miss greatly, my next goal is to start riding regularly again and hopefully have my own horse soon. Travelling is a huge interest, and of course spending time with my family.
What attracted you to Feros Care/In Great Company?
I resonate with the Feros Care values. The In Great Company volunteer program and its purpose is very close to my heart and is something I feel passionate about. I love that In Great Company has a commitment to the power of social connection and helping
our older people live their best lives through providing them with friendship and companionship, which really is life changing.
What is the most satisfying part of your role?
Matching a lonely isolated older person with a friendly visitor and seeing the friendship grow, listening to them tell me about the visits and the happiness it brings our older people.
How valuable do you believe the In Great Company Volunteer service is?
It is beyond valuable… it is life changing for someone who has no family or friend connections and is feeling so isolated and lonely. It is also so rewarding for our volunteers, so it really works both ways! The program brings happiness to clients
and volunteers and reconnects older isolated people with their community through social prescription.